


Remastered.

by Xuric



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Horror, Ash Starts Out As A Dumbass But Gets Smarter Over Time, Brock actually does something, Eventual OP Ash, Family Drama, Gary Motherfucking Oak, Gen, Horror, Kanto-chihou | Kanto, No Ash pairings, POV Multiple, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training, Retelling, Simultaneous Plots, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Team Bonding, Team Rocket (Pokemon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-01-04 22:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 123,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21204848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xuric/pseuds/Xuric
Summary: Ash and Pikachu have their sights set on the stars. The journey to the top is a path only the strongest can climb, and it doesn't help that Team Rocket seem to be three steps ahead at every turn. A retelling of the Pokemon journey we all know and love, with slightly darker and more horror-focused themes. Features competent Team Rocket, an eventual-OP Ash and a Brock that actually does something!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Before we begin I'd like to thank everyone who clicks on this story for their time, regardless of whether they proceed with it further or not. This idea has burned in the back of my mind in various iterations before I've finally managed to settle on this.
> 
> The story is currently being rewritten as I wrote myself into something of a hole before, but now I'm back on track, taking the advice and criticisms on board to make this story better than ever.
> 
> Like many other stories out there, this is a re-telling of Ash's original journey from Kanto onwards. It will be an AU from there, with an Ash who starts off just as fresh and newbie as in the anime, but grows into the master we all want him to be. The anime used him as a audience surrogate, aimed to be initially unintelligent to introduce people to the world. Here, I'm doing something similar. He'll seem unremarkable compared to those who have been around pokémon for years, but the more time he spends with them and the more he learns, the more he'll turn into the hero we're familiar with. This is his journey, warts and all, from nobody in a small town to the one trainer in the world everyone knows. The anime will be used as a base, with other forms of media exerting their influence. The world is darker, yet not full grimderp. Hopefully it rests on a happy medium between the two. Thus, the situations Ash finds himself in will be different, the fic itself will be more grounded in reality, yet with some of the anime's cheer and fun.
> 
> What sets this apart though, is that the focus isn't entirely on Ash. Rather than him being the Chosen One of legend, central to all things Plot as per the anime, I'm taking a different route here. We see the view points of all other main members of the cast. Oftentimes, events will happen without Ash ever knowing of them. Other times, we'll see the fallout of events that begun with Ash, or vice versa.
> 
> That being said, a quick disclaimer and then onto the story. I hope you enjoy what I've done with the place.
> 
> **Disclaimer**
> 
> Pokémon is a registered trademark of Satoshi Tajiri, Game Freak, the Pokémon Company, Nintendo, etc. All trademarked characters, locations, themes and ideas are used without permission in a work of fan-created fiction. The following has been done without profit for purely entertainment purposes. All original concepts, characters, themes and ideas within are the copyrighted property of the author, and are not to be reproduced without his prior consent.

Pikachu was dying, kept alive only by the wonders of machines and the pokémon's own sheer force of will.

As he stared at his starter pokémon on life support, with needles piercing his tiny arms and the machines beeping as they continued to keep him alive, Ash felt the lump in his throat continue to grow. His pokémon could die. His pikachu, who he had barely even known for a day and yet had already been through so much with, could be gone before their adventure had begun.

"Hey buddy," Ash said, wrapping his fingers around his pokémon's paw. He listened to the way the heart monitors sped up and prayed it was good news. "We've not really gotten off to a good start, have we?" He tried to laugh, but it died in his throat. Instead he made a choking, half sobbing sound. "Sorry. I guess it's mostly my fault, isn't it? If I hadn't been so eager to beat Gary, if I hadn't been so stupid and attacked that spearow, then maybe, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

He sniffed and wiped at his eyes with the palms of his hands. "I haven't actually really told you anything about myself, have I? I guess maybe I should start there. The nurses said that you'll take time to recover, and I'm not leaving until you're better, so I'll tell you stories to keep us both entertained, okay?"

He blew out a long, shaky breath. "How about I tell you about my mom first? She's amazing. I know you'll love her."

**-O-O-O-**

_Two minutes left._

She closed the front door behind her soundlessly, her breath caught in her throat as she tiptoed her way back into the house. She kicked off her worn, once-pink running shoes and tucked them beneath the lime-green couch, replacing them with her pristine white, obnoxiously fluffy white house slippers. The lipstick she so delicately applied last night was removed with a quick scrub of a baby wipe, performed even as she moved through the barely-touched living room and into the kitchen. A quick glance confirmed for her that the food is where it should be, pre-packaged and awaiting a radioactive blast from the microwave. The coffee machine, as if having sensed her presence, made certain the her liquid saviour was ready and waiting.

She snatched the pot from the machine and, not bothering with a mug, gave the pot a quick, cursory blow before she sipped at it. She was still moving, taking the pink, frilly apron from the back of the kitchen door and layering it over her back and green, somewhat dirtied running gear. Her hair is treated last; scooped up into a quick ponytail to complete the lie.

She placed the coffee pot back down, finally pouring herself a mugful. A quick glance in the mirror told her that she looked passable.

_He'll never know._

Breakfast was left cooking in the microwave as she made her way up the stairs. Able to hear the snoring from halfway up the stairs, she ignored the dusty photographic timeline that decorated the stairwell and made a beeline directly for the sound. The white, wooden door opened without a sound, allowing her to slip in as undetected as a few hours previously. When Samuel had called her over for a quick late night rendezvous, he had asked her to switch off Ash's alarm and make certain that he woke up late. Though she could not be certain what his plan was, Delia had done as he requested.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, touching the curtains in a manner that made the room almost glow blue. She sat gently on the edge of the bed, eased the well-practiced smile onto her face and begun to smooth his soft black hair, humming as she did so.

"Ash," she whispered. He made a soft, sleepy noise. "Ash," she repeated, louder. He answered with a snore.

_"Ash Ketchum!"_

He woke in an instant, snorting and sitting bolt upright in one movement. He moved so quickly that he nearly smashed his skull into her nose - it was only her quick reflexes that saved her from a black eye and a broken nose. She moved back across the bed, smoothing out the flicker of irritation that she felt crossing her features.

"Morning Sweetie," she said gently. As she placed one hand on his shoulder, she worked out the kinks in his hair with her other hand. "You overslept."

"Overslept?" he echoed, his brown eyes foggy with a half-asleep haze. Within a moment he had blinked it away, suddenly awake as he shouted, "I overslept? I can't have overslept! Today's too important!"

"Ash, honey, it's fine," she said, attempting to soothe him. "Come on." She swept him up in a hug, cradling his head against her chest and stroked his hair again. "Don't rush around in a panic. If you do that, you'll make a mistake and turn up in just your pyjamas." She laughed, picturing the image. "Now you don't want that, do you?"

"No," he answered, sulkily.

"Good." The shrill screams of the microwave echoed from downstairs. "Now come on, Ash," she said, standing. "Let's get something to eat first, then you can make your way to the lab and collect your first pokémon, okay?"

"But what if they're all gone?" he asked, sounding very much on the verge of tears.

"I'm sure they won't be," she answered, smiling. She had asked as much the night before. "If this is the last time we get to see each other for some time, I want to make sure we enjoy the moments we have left. Now, go lay the table. Mommy will catch up in just a moment, okay? She just needs to make an important phone call."

The smile had long started to hurt her cheeks. She felt relief flood through her like a ruptured dam when he obeyed quickly, moving downstairs without a complaint. When she was certain that he had moved out of earshot, she crept towards her bedroom and unlocked it with the key kept around her neck at all times. With the door closed and locked behind her, she stood in the middle of the spartan room and dialed a number from memory, placing the phone to her ear before it began to ring.

As ever, it picked up instantly. The voice on the other side sighed, sounding bored before the conversation had begun. "Before you begin, please use my name. I'm beginning to forget what it even is."

"One hour until the spearow has flown the coop," Delia said quickly, her tone flat. "Will update with further details once the nest is vacated."

"Oh," the voice on the other side said. "Good to know. Dismissed."

Rather than disconnecting the phone, she pried open the back of the case and removed the sim card, snapping it between her finger and thumb. Making certain to lock the door behind her as she left, the practiced, effervescent smile that graced her face seemed to come easier than before.

"So Ash," she said as she entered the kitchen, finding him struggling with an orange peel. There was a strange feeling in the back of her mind, as if there was something important she needed to share. Her thoughts however, were as blank as her memory of what she had done since returning home. "Ready to start your journey?"

"Of course!" he answered, grinning widely. "I'll be the best there ever was."

**-O-O-O-**

Nothing had changed on the monitors. Ash sighed and rubbed his fingers in circles behind Pikachu's ears. He had hoped that something would have happened. The pale pink walls of the emergency room were the colour of the chansey that routinely waddled in to check up on his pokémon.

"I guess hearing about my mom wasn't enough, huh?" Ash placed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out the bright red pokédex he had received that very morning. "I guess I can always tell you about someone else. Well, two people, really. One of them is the reason I wanted to become a pokémon trainer. The other introduced me to you. I guess you never really got to know the professor. He's pretty awesome. His grandson is a butt. Gary's always been a jerk. You should definitely know more about him. We'll be seeing him a lot when we journey, I bet."

**-O-O-O-**

Samuel Oak had waited for a certain day for over sixty years.

To say he was feeling anxious was an understatement. He could feel his jaw trembling with each inhale. Even seeing her the night before, letting him distract him with her body and mind was unable to leave him feeling at peace. Much as he may have wanted to, he found himself unable to pretend that his anxiousness stemmed from his grandson coming to collect a pokémon. Though Gary _technically_ owned a pokémon already, Samuel was not above giving his grandson preferential treatment - especially when said grandson happened to be embarking on a dangerous journey that may or may not result in a fatal failure.

He had scheduled the starting trainers to arrive in groups of three, on the hour, every hour from dawn til dusk, yet he could still feel his mind wander back to the possibilities of everything that could and might happen.

"Gramps, get your head out of the clouds!"

Said grandson also inherited his mother's tact; that of a gyarados. Samuel's sigh was the familiar, long-suffering sound of a parent wondering what went wrong along the way.

"Gimme my squirtle already! None of your other chumps this week are going to cut it as trainers anyway."

_"Garrett."_ His tone was harsh enough to make his grandson quiet, for once. "Confidence bears arrogance dear boy."

"Come on, Gramps," he said with a snort, flicking his hand through his styled hair in a way that made Samuel's past combine with his present. Gary never got to know him, not truly, yet his mannerisms always left Samuel comparing father to son. Their resemblances ran from the brown hues of their hair and eyes, down to the arrogant, almost caustic confident streak.

"I know you're sad to see me go and everything but time is for the young!" He had the audacity grin. "Don't you think? Isn't it about time I get out there and show the world what my team and I are capable of?"

"Gary," Samuel said, his tone a sigh, "you already have an eevee."

"And you promised me a squirtle," Gary retorted, his voice full of fire. "You already gave Holly the bulbasaur and Ritchie the charmander. I know you breed the pokémon yourself so you've got more of both of them, but we both know I want the squirtle."

As he stood, Samuel felt the slightest twinge of embarrassment for the state of his office. Belatedly, he realised that he started the conversation all wrong. It should have been in their home, in familiar territory for the both of them. Daisy could have even been there to play peacekeeper, but no, he had to fall asleep in his office after Delia left. If Daisy had forgotten to swing by that morning and wake him, he may have even slept through the morning's starting trainers.

Being at home would have also meant he could have woken in a bed, rather than getting a crick in his neck after sleeping in his office chair. They had agreed, when everything started, that visiting each other's homes would have been detrimental for the children. Samuel's grandchildren - Daisy, especially - most likely preferred to think of him as too old to have such urges, whilst the matter of Ash's missing father was an unspoken sore subject with Delia. Though he did not know if their relationship was casual or had meaning to it, he knew not to press the issue. If he was honest with himself, he enjoyed having someone around who looked at him in a different light. His age may have been slowly getting the better of him; he found it harder to remember certain things, moving in the morning was often difficult and he occasionally needed medical assistance to enjoy times with her, yet none of it ever seemed to concern her. She embraced him for who he was, whirlwind as their romance may have been.

Swigging the remains of cold coffee from the cup on his desk, Samuel forced his mind back to the present. It had been several weeks since he cleaned his office - the night before's activities had not helped matters either. His once empty desk was covered quickly in papers that had been swept to the floor in the heat of the moment. The bookshelves that lined the walls were empty, instead the books laid open on the floor, with Samuel's own notebooks sprawled over them. The double windows were both open, letting a soft breeze caress the office with the smell of freshly cut grass, though the window ledge had become his own personal dumping ground for styrofoam cups of coffee.

"Gary," Samuel said as he guided him towards the red armchair reserved for guests. "I brought you here because I wanted to talk to you. Assigning starter pokémon in my lab's reception is a cold, informal process. I don't want you to start your journey like that. I…" For all his years crafting papers and writing haiku, he had never struggled with words so much until then. "I made mistakes with your father. I threw myself into my work when he was younger, always thinking that my work would change the world, that he would see when he grew up. When he grew older, I told myself that we still had all the time in the world, that I could talk to him as an adult and show him the world I hid from him when he was younger. I always thought we would have more time…"

The feeling of grief never left, merely remained buried beneath the distractions he made certain to keep himself occupied. He swallowed the lump in his chest and ignoring the quiver in his voice, said, "I wanted you to know that no matter what you do; whether you win or lose, fail or succeed, you are always welcome back home. I know I'm not the best role model sometimes but believe me when I give you any advice to do with your journey." Before Gary could think of an answer to that, he quickly continued, "I know you are aware of the challenges you will face - or rather, you think that you're aware." He leant against the edge of his desk, folded his arms and made certain to look at him directly in the eyes. "You are not prepared for what is to come." He made certain to level Gary with the most serious expression he could muster, holding the stare until he saw the realisation spark beneath his grandson's hubris. "There is not a book you could read, a game you could play or a school that you can attend that will prepare you for this new stage in life. That said, the task before you is not impossible." He turned and removed the second to last pokédex from his desk, rescuing it from a pile of research papers that had yet to be read through.

"This is a sign of your status as a pokémon trainer." The way Gary's eyes grew wide at the sight of the pocket-sized red machine was identical to every over trainer that Samuel provided a pokédex to. Seeing the wonder in their eyes never grew old.

"This is a testament to my confidence in your abilities to prevail as a trainer. The paths before you will be hard. They will be full of trials, of hardship and most important of all; they will be filled with adventure.

"Remember that should you ever need help or advice, you need only ever ask. Your pokédex will help to guide you on your travels, but what you do from here is up to you. Your path is your own, your destiny is in your own hands. Now," he said, placing the pokédex back on the desk, "we get to the matter of your starter pokémon."

_"Finally,"_ Gary breathed.

Samuel activated the storage system on his computer. A flash of light later and the teleportation system deposited a standard red and white poké ball on the middle of his desk. Samuel picked it up delicately and handed it to his grandson. "Your squirtle, as promised. I know you've had your heart set on one for years. This one is bred from my own champion blastoise. Treat him well."

For all his faults, his attitude to pokémon had never been one of them. Gary held the poké ball in his hands with such reverence that Samuel knew it was the right decision.

"One last thing," Samuel said, drawing his attention back. "In addition to the other trainers today, there is another one due to come in to collect his starter pokemon. I know that you and Holly have known each other since you were in diapers, but do make an effort with all three of your rivals. It's not often that so many of you will start on the same day."

"Gramps, I'm not going to make an effort with him just because you're banging his mom."

Samuel wasn't certain what to do first; deny all knowledge of it or backhand Gary with the heaviest folder he could find.

Try as he might, Samuel could never remain angry with him for more than a moment. "Please refrain from using such vulgar attitude."

"Will do Gramps," he said, grinning toothily. He looked down at the ball in his hands before he shrunk it and places it in his pocket. A silence descended over them both, leaving them staring at the worn, beige office carpet. They always knew this day was only ever a matter of time.

"Grandpa?" Gary whispered, his voice unusually timid.

"Yes Gary?"

The speed at which Gary stood and threw his arms around Samuel took him aback. "I love you. I know I don't say it enough, Gramps, but it's true. I'll make you proud, I'll swear."

Samuel told himself that he could blame allergies on the way his eyes filled with water. "You already have, my boy."

Gary flashed him a heartfelt smile, then in the blink of an eye he withdrew putting space between them as his cocky nature returned, burying the emotional side of him beneath the arrogant facade. "Well Gramps, I better hit the road before the other losers bore all the good pokémon to death. Smell ya later."

Samuel allowed himself only a small chuckle. Any more than that and he was afraid he may have burst into tears. "Take care, Gary."

A smile, a close of the door and just like that, his grandson was gone and experiencing the world, his return a question of if rather than when. He would have been lying if he said he was happy for Gary to leave. So many things could go wrong. He had to force himself not to think of those.

"You promised Celebi you'd keep everything stable," he muttered to himself, wiping his eyes with the heels of his palms. "That was one of the conditions." It was the day he knew would come to pass, after all. He had to move hell and high water just to make certain everything was perfect, all to return a favour that had often felt like a debt.

_"E-excuse me?"_

The intercom on his laptop buzzed with an unfamiliar, yet somehow recognisable voice. _"Professor Oak? My name's Ash Ketchum. I'm here to collect my starter pokémon."_

_Ah._ Oak took a deep breath and listened to the way his heart hammered in his chest. _This is where it all begins._

Fifty years of waiting, all to give a certain boy a certain pikachu at the right time and place.

**-O-O-O-**

Ash watched the steady rise and fall of his pokémon's chest, amazed at the progress he had made in such a short time. With the IV in his arm filling him with healing nutrients, Pikachu's wounds were very slowly closing before Ash's eyes. It was not the first time he had marveled at the strength of pokémon compared to humans and he knew it would not be the last.

In the back of his mind he imagined Pikachu in the middle of battle, healing wounds instantaneously, dealing out damage faster than the opponents could keep up with.

Ash pressed his fingers against Pikachu's chest and felt the heartbeat racing within. Professor Oak had mentioned once that smaller pokémon had faster heart rates than larger pokémon, and that electrical pokémon had some of the fastest pulses recorded. Ash felt like his heart was racing as fast as Pikachu's as he tried to cope with the fact that his starter was still unconscious.

Ash glanced at the clock, unsurprised to find that he had been in there for half the night already. His stomach, unusually, was not growling for food. Even if it was, Ash was resolute that he would not leave his pokémon until he knew that he would make a full recovery.

"I guess there's one more person I can tell you about," Ash said. He began to gently pull apart Pikachu's fur, where the blood had dried and stuck lumps of it together. It had faded into a mottled brown colour, almost blending in perfectly with the dirt and Pikachu's natural brown markings.

"I don't really know her, not all that well, but she's here in this pokémon centre," Ash said. He continued to work at Pikachu's fur, slowly cleaning it with his nails. "I spoke to her for a little bit. She's a bit angry that I borrowed her bike, but it seems to have cooled down for now. At least I hope so. You were kinda knocked out at the time, so let me tell you about how we met her and what happened before you woke up to all the spearow."

**-O-O-O-**

_You promised yourself you wouldn't cry._

It had been so easy to carry out that promise when she was at home. Being surrounded by people at all times, all of them asking how she was… it had been easy to lie, to claim that she was fine.

Now however, without anyone to lie to, she could feel the burgeoning pressure of the truth swelling up inside her, about to explode.

She sniffed, wiped her nose with her arm and tried to distract herself by concentrating on her fishing rod. The river bank was uncomfortable, dried by the beating sun, making her fidget every few moments. Growing up she had been taught that the smell of stale water was a bad thing. In the gym, it had certainly held true. In the real world, she knew that was not always the case, yet still the smell of it danced in her nose, convincing her that something was wrong with the river, that the staleness had to be to blame for the lack of attention her lure had been getting. She knew the best sign for good, clean water was to find quagsire swimming within, though so far as she knew, quagsire were rarely spotted in Kantonese waters. Maybe that fact alone was telling.

She sighed as she stared at the ebb and flow of the water. The rivers around Pallet were not known to contain anything all too interesting in terms of rare pokémon - her brief read up on the area told her that she would be lucky to catch anything. If she was exceptionally lucky she would be able to catch a slowpoke, though she knew she had enough problems without adding a notoriously dimwitted pokémon into the mix.

She ran a hand along the poké balls on her belt, able to feel her loneliness increase tenfold as she did so. Three months that practically vanished in the blink of an eye and suddenly five pokémon were the only things in the world that she truly had left.

Her ears pricked, hearing movement in the grass near her camp. Glancing backwards, she grasped one of her poké balls, ready for whatever challenge that came her way. Feeling her heart racing, she saw a familiar mop of spiked, brown hair moving around her bright red tent. His cocky swagger when he walked extended even up to the tips of his hair. She smiled to herself, placed the poké ball on her belt and secured her fishing rod.

_Five pokémon and this jackass are all I have left,_ she corrected herself.

He looked straight at her when he emerged from behind her tent, grinning widely. His clothes were covered in mud, there was a leaf stuck in the zipper of his bag and though she could not say for certain, what appeared to be a pidgey's beak mark was turning into a bruise on his forehead. Despite his disheveled state, he smirked at her in a manner that only he could, somehow owning the disheveled appearance.

"Sup, Tomboy?"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Hairspray?"

He broke first, snorting and laughing as he hugged her the moment she stood. "I'm glad you could make it," he confessed, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Well it's not everyday one of your best friends starts their pokémon journey." She matched his grin, in good enough spirits to ignore the fact that he had grown to be the same height as her. Giving him a once-over glance, she noticed that he already had three poké balls on his belt. One would have definitely been his eevee - she was certain that the ball of fur had never left Gary's side since they met - so the others had to be the squirtle he had dreamt of for years and whatever pokémon he had caught already.

"Champion in the making," he said. As he let go of her, she could feel the way the air changed between them. "You okay?" he asked, his voice quiet, conspiratorial.

She wanted to lie, to continue the pretence.

"Hardly," she answered truthfully, sitting back down on the warm, hard grass bank. She waited until he sat down beside her before she groaned and leaned her head on his shoulder. "This is tougher than I thought it was going to be, Gary."

"Do you know…" he trailed off, as if reconsidering his question. That only served to make her worry more. One of the many things they shared was their blunt nature. It always made talking to him refreshing, far more so than entertaining the League's sycophants, who would bury layers of conversation beneath a single raised brow. "Did they at least tell you what's happening with the gym?"

"Hell if I know," she snarled. "My sisters have gone to Hoenn. They think there might be something there, some sort of clue as to what happened to the boat." She grabbed his arm and squeezed it, using his as a tether against the storm that was her raging thoughts. "I'm scared," she admitted. "Will and Karen came in so quickly and had everything sorted so neatly that they must have had everything planned."

"Misty…" he whispered.

"Don't," she said quickly, dropping his arm. "Don't say anything that will make this situation worse and don't say anything to try and make me feel better." She sat up and moved away, removing him from her personal space. "Why did you ask me to meet you here, Gary? Did you want me to travel with you?"

"Hardly," he answered quickly, snorting a laugh. "I wanted to see you. To see how you're doing with my own eyes." He moved his gaze from her to the shining sun. "More than that.. I wanted to talk. We've known each other since we were in diapers, Mist."

"Since _you_ were in diapers," she corrected. "I was potty-trained by that point."

"Still didn't stop you from being a crybaby," he retorted, grinning as she snarled at him. "But seriously, Gramps doesn't even know what's going on with your gym. I know since Daisy and I moved to Pallet we haven't been able to talk to each other as much, but I was there that day too."

"I know," she said, perhaps too harshly. She flinched at her own tone and looked away quickly. Whenever she tried to sleep, the memories of that day would blossom in her mind again, playing over and over in full detail. She had lost count of the ways that she had tried to forget. Years later, she still found herself imagining the distant roaring of gyarados whenever it got too quiet.

"I don't think it was an accident, Mist."

She closed her eyes and let out a breath that she was unaware she had held. "I've thought the same for a while now," she admitted. It felt almost like a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She felt able to sit a bit taller, that she no longer had to hide the thoughts that had occupied the darker parts of her mind. "Everything with the gym happened too quickly. I know we'd been failing targets for a while, but three months to fire us and get in someone new?" She shook her head. "That's too fast. I didn't notice anything else going on after the boat trip, but from what my Daisy has let slip, they seemed a little too prepared for the chaos."

"I thought as much," Gary whispered, hugging his knees. "Gramps never really talks about it, but I know after everything happened there was some research that he was working on that he suddenly no longer had any interest in." When he sighed, Misty could see the way that he tensed, like a predator waiting to strike. "I want answers, Mist. We deserve answers. I'll become the Champion - you can take a spot in the Elites and we can change the system and get the answers we want."

She bit her bottom lip, thinking of the work that would entail. "That'll take years, Gary."

"I _don't care_ how long it takes!" he snarled, punching the floor. "I don't care if it takes me until I'm twenty, thirty or _older_ to get the answers we deserve! My parents died that day - yours did too! My grandma had a heart attack from the stress of it and died a few weeks later! They ripped apart my family! They ruined my life, Daisy's life, Grandpa's and destroyed your family's legacy!"

_Everything he says is right,_ she reflected. Hugging her knees, she watched him rant, the way his face turned a darker and darker shade of red. _Something still doesn't feel right though. It's like we're looking at a puzzle and only have the corner pieces._

She looked away, staring up at the sky. Moments before it had been a blissful early summer's day. Instead dark grey storm clouds had crept up on them, darkening the sky much like their conversation has soured her mood.

"I'm with you Gary, don't worry," she told him. "Now," she said, injecting what she felt like was far too much false cheer into her voice, "do you want to show me your new squirtle? Don't even try to tell me you didn't get that off your grandpa, I know you've had your heart set on one since you saw Lily's wartortle years ago."

"Jeez, make me sound predictable why don't you?" he said, rolling his eyes. "Though if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not, as least not quite yet." He shrugged as he plucked what she assumed to be his squirtle's poké ball from his belt and rolled it in his palms. "I want to get to know him first, before I have someone tell me what he's like. If you told me that he wasn't the greatest, or that he had something wrong with him, or even if he was amazing, it'd influence my thinking about him. Even if I end up with the gimpiest pokémon, I'd rather make my own decisions."

"That's surprisingly mature of you."

He laughed, the tips of his ears turning red as he replaced the poké ball. "Hey, just because I'm ten on the outside doesn't mean I don't have the brain of a much older genius."

"I'm sure you do," she said, laughing with him. A crack of thunder drew her attention skyward. She frowned, thinking over what to do. Viridian was too far away to make by walking - even the thought of cycling ahead and leaving Gary out in the rain made her feel bad. "Are you staying?" she asked. "Waiting out the storm might be the better thing to do."

"Nah," he said, standing. "Gary Oak isn't afraid of a little bit of rain! Besides," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets, "I want to get my pokémon used to battling in any weather conditions. I've got ideas about what to do, where to go from here."

She stood and hugged him. "Alright, don't be a stranger."

"Take your own advice," he retorted, returning the hug. "Oh, before I forget!" He pulled away, eyes lit up with a familiar look - Misty had seen it many times before when he was plotting something. "Gramps said Cousin Samson is meant to be visiting in a few weeks. Apparently his research on the divergent evolution in Alola is making waves, so he's coming here to get some samples or something. Apparently despite everything, there's no alternate forms for water pokémon we see in Kanto, so he's come to study some of them. I told him that if he wanted an expert opinion, I knew a certain water trainer who would be happy to help, maybe even trade him a native Kanto water pokémon for something from Alola."

"Gary!" she admonished, feeling equal parts humbled and horrified. "I… I don't even know where to begin with that! I'm not trading away any of my pokémon!"

"You don't have to," he said with a shrug, placing his hands back into his pockets. "Catch something new, train it a little, make sure it's docile and let him have that. Maybe something you wouldn't be able to use much over here - there's plenty of ocean over there for aquatic pokémon to play around in."

She sighed, knowing there was no winning the conversation. He meant well, she could see that. She just wished he would ask her first, before promising such things. "Thank you, Gary. I'll keep it in mind. Say thanks to your cousin from me too."

"Don't worry about that. Sides, next time we see each other, we'll battle and I'll show you the power of my new squirtle."

"You better take good care of him," she threatened, though she knew he was aware that she was only half-serious. "If I'm going to be a water-focused Elite, I won't have you looking after any water pokémon badly."

"Fat chance of that. Give it a year, I'll be schooling you in everything you think you know."

His cockiness should have offended her. Instead it just brought a smile to her face. "We'll see about that."

Another _boom_ of thunder roared above them. Misty flinched at how close it sounded. "Sure you don't want to wait out the storm?"

"Quit your worrying. I'll see you soon - maybe I'll meet up with ya in Pewter or Cerulean… if you can keep up."

She rolled her eyes at his antics. With a grin and a flip of his hair he disappeared back into the wilds, though she heard the distinct sound of a poké ball opening and the familiar cry of his eevee as he left.

"Never change, Gary," she whispered. Another peal of thunder echoed and the rain began. It started only as a trickle, like a hint of things to come. She sighed, checking her fishing rod once more. Despite the rain not bothering her, she had no desire to catch a cold. Different pokémon would emerge during the rainstorm, but that did not mean she wanted to sit outside in it.

She crawled into her tent and sealed the flap shut behind her. The pattering of the rain against the fabric above her was almost enough to lull her to sleep, yet she knew the moment she tried, it would elude her.

_It wasn't an accident._

Deep down, she always knew. _But if Gary's certain of it too…_

Another _crack_ of thunder exploded above. She rolled her poké balls in her palms and tried to think. The best way would be to do a gym challenge, to collect all the badges and prove herself that way. Yet, how many of those same gym leaders had already allied against her? Kanto's gym leaders tended to have no interest in matters outside of their districts, and the thought of going against someone like Sabrina made Misty's hair stand on end.

_Maybe -_

A scream.

Her back straightened. Her body became more alert in an instant. She listened, could only hear rain. Maybe she imagined it. Maybe it was all just a trick of the storm -

Another scream.

_I didn't imagine that._

She grabbed all of her poké balls and bolted out of the tent. The storm had picked up in strength. The wind howled and whipped at her, pushing her back towards her tent. The rain felt like tiny needles on her skin. Her sleeveless vest and shorts had been perfect for the blazing hot weather. She grit her teeth as she unchained her bike and hopped on, pedalling against the storm, towards where she was certain the sound had come from.

The sky was dark, almost pitch black. The clouds moved as a formless mass of shadow, eclipsing the sun from the world.

Yet she could still see the spearow circling.

_Not good._

She pedalled faster, ignoring the splashes of mud against her skin. Though they were not as dangerous as mandibuzz or vullaby, a flock of spearow was never a good thing. Gary started his journey today - Misty knew that meant other new trainers would be starting from Pallet too. Whatever they had chosen would not be enough to help stop a whole flock of spearow - assuming no fearow join the mix. Worst case scenario, whoever caught their attention chose a bulbasaur.

She stopped at the top of a hill, catching her breath. Someone stood on the ground, in the eye of the spearow storm, their arms outstretched, facing the onslaught. Behind the person she could see a small, shaking, yellow, pokémon.

_That's not a normal starter._

She pushed the thought out of her mind as she selected the pokémon she knew would work best. She was just about to call her starmie forth when suddenly, the yellow pokémon moved. It leaped on the person, bounced off of them into sky and impossibly, channeled the lightning that arced towards it, redirecting it at the spearow.

She flinched, having to cover her eyes from the blast. The resulting shockwave knocked her back a step. The spearow screamed in agony. Misty was certain she could smell them _cooking._

When she opened her eyes, half of the flock had fallen from the sky. She paid them no mind - the person was on the ground, their pokémon beside them.

"Hey!" she screamed, rushing towards them. She leaped off her bike, leaving it on the scorched earth beside the boy. She told herself he was just stunned from the lightning. "Are you okay?"

He groaned. _Alive._ The pokémon beside him had laboured breaths. A pikachu - not something she could say people often started out with.

"Hey," Misty said, touching the boy's shoulder. His eyes were scrunched shut. The electric blast must have caught him - she could see tell-tale lightning strike marks beneath his eyes. The veins had burnt black, leaving marks that resembled lightning bolts. His jet black hair was plastered to his face by the rain and his breathing sounded wet, strained.

"What happened?" he asked, groaning with the effort. He blinked rapidly and suddenly, the drowsiness vanished as he leaped to his feet with a cry of, "Pikachu!"

Misty fell backwards, landing on her rear, shocked by the sight before her. He should _not_ have been alive - much less speaking or on his feet. As he scooped the pokémon up in his arms, she found words incredibly difficult to manage.

"I need to get to a pokémon centre!" the boy declared. A slow, dawning horror crept up on Misty, forcing movement into her leaden limbs. "I'm borrowing this!" the boy shouted, taking her bike.

"Hey!" Misty cried, leaping to her feet. He had already jumped on her bike, pedalling away. "That's my bike!"

"I'll meet you in Viridian City!" he cried over his shoulder.

Misty felt like actually crying. There was no guarantee he would even make it there, let alone if she would even find him again.

"I hate everything," she declared, beginning the walk back to her camp. "This is what you get for trying to help people, Mist. You're not a gym leader anymore, you don't have to help people. But _no_, you see the boy struck by lightning and he steals your bike!"

She cursed the rain as it continued to beat down on her. Hugging her arms, she felt her jaw begin to shake as the wind brushed against her, chilling her wet skin. She hurried back to her camp, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. She had no pokémon that would be able to help warm her up, either. The promise of her dry, warm clothes in her sleeping bag kept her feet moving. She focused entirely on keeping moving, so much so that she failed to notice the smoke coming from her campfire until she was stood back in her camp, staring in horror at the man that sat before the fire.

He had long, dyed purple hair that ran to his shoulders and rather than acknowledging her, continued to hold out his hands to the fire. He wore a suit that matched his hair and that impossibly, seemed to be ignoring the downpour that the heavens were unleashing on them. His eyes, when he turned his gaze towards her, were whited out, though the black framed mask he wore around them gave the illusion that it was merely part of the costume.

Behind him, a large, green feathered bird stood silently, taller than her. Its wings were easily twice the size of her, decorated with feathers in shades of red and white. Like its trainer, both of its eyes were white, blind. It gave no indication that it was aware Misty had arrived, nor did it even seem to have a rise and fall of its chest, like it did not even need to breathe.

_"Will,"_ Misty hissed, jumping back a step, moving to a stance where she could hit him or run at a moment's notice. A second later and her brain kicked into gear. She called out two of her pokémon and buried herself between them. The cool, purple skin of her starmie was a harsh contrast to the tough, red carapace of her crawdaunt.

"Misty," Will greeted, his tone flat. His voice was accentless, as if he did not belong anywhere. "A dark type. Truly? If I wanted to harm you, I would have already done so."

"That's what people say just before they harm you anyway," Misty shot back. She hated her body for the way it shook in the cold. The fire, so delightfully warm, was somehow sheltered from the downpour around them. "What do you want?"

"So cold, so caustic," Will chided. "Come, sit by your fire. It would do neither of us any good for you to die of hypothermia out here."

Much as she way have wanted to put as much distance between them as possible, she could not deny the warmth of the fire was an enticing offer. Keeping her hands on her pokémon, she stood on the other side of the fire to him, close enough to enjoy the shelter it somehow had from the rain, yet far enough from Will that he could not reach out and touch her.

"There, I'm by the fire and warming myself. Now want do you want?"

"To talk," he said innocuously. "Though I am blind-"

"If you start your 'I'm blind but I see more than anyone else', I'm going to shove my foot down your throat," Misty growled. "I'm not someone who's never been near a pokémon in their life. I'm not someone who doesn't know what's really going on. I'm fully aware that you're psychic, so can we cut the crap already?"

The way that Will smiled reminded Misty very much of a meowth taunting its cornered prey. "You wish to prove yourself, to let the world see you as an Elite. Travelling to gyms and earning trinkets will not give you the right to be one of us." His eyes seemed to glow. Misty's crawdaunt grunted, turning to her, its eyes covered in a white haze.

"Ren!" she cried, throwing her arms out to her pokémon. It batted her aside, knocking her to the floor. She cried out, hitting the ground and looked up in time to see her crawdaunt smash its pincers into her starmie, cracking the gemstone. Screaming, Misty recalled them both, turning to Will with her eyes wide, her body shaking.

"Sad really," Will commented, as if bored, "you never felt truly loved by your sisters, so you name your pokémon after flowers to continue the theme. Ren, Jasmine, Acacia, Quill, Willow. You seek family in pokémon because you feel abandoned by your own."

"Yeah well what's your point?" Misty growled, standing, ignoring the tears building in her eyes. She stood back, drenched in the continual downpour. Her hands formed into fists as she hissed, "I know you're psychic - you knowing my pokémon's names doesn't freak me out. If you're trying to scare me you'll have to do harder than that!"

"Your crawdaunt cannot defend itself from me - a _human_. You cannot expect to reach Elite levels if your pokémon are so weak."

"Fuck you, you purple haired prick," Misty snarled. "What the hell is your goal here? To beat up a child? Congratulations, you asshole. I'm not stupid - I know that you and your sister already made certain that my gym was taken from me - was that not enough?"

"No."

The simple answer, comprised of only a single word, nearly floored her with how matter-of-fact Will delivered it.

"I… what?" she whispered.

"I am not content with the events that have transpired so far," Will said, standing. Misty took a step back, able to feel the power flowing off him in waves. It set aflame her instincts to run and hide. "My xatu sees the paths each and every action takes. People describe them as being able to see past and future, yet that is such a _minute_ grasp of their power. Xatu can see into the past and determine every action that will arise from a single decision in a single moment in time." As he stepped towards her, Misty saw the pebbles on the ground raise up around his feet. His eyes seemed to glow, leaking white light. The rain evaporated the moment it touched his body. "You are weak."

His eyes flashed. Misty felt the ground move away from her feet. Her limbs locked, refused to move. She felt an invisible hand grasp her throat, began to choke the air out of her. She realised she was being lifted into the air, pulled by an unseen force. Her tears would not budge. Her lungs burnt as she struggled to breathe.

"As you are, you are nothing," he continued, walking towards her. His tone never changed, his voice never raised. He stated everything as if it were fact, like he was describing the weather. "My xatu sees the paths that no other can. I see _everything._" He stood before Misty, power flowing from him in waves that pushed away the storm. The river water vibrated at his presence. Misty felt the air heat around him. The invisible noose on her neck tightened.

He reached out and pressed a hand against her cheek. "I choose you, Misty Williams. You will be my protégé. You, who would help change the world. With my guidance, you will change it for the better. You will help us prosper."

"N-never," Misty gasped. "Just k-kill me and get it done with."

"No."

The air changed. Misty dropped to the floor, landing on her knees. She felt the skin tear on the rocks and hissed, able to breathe again. She looked up at Will fearfully, her hands around her neck, tears in her eyes. "Why?" she asked, her voice the barest of whispers.

"I have seen it," he answered, turning from her. "Struggle builds strength. Hardship builds character. When you are strong enough I will return, and you and I will change the world."

Misty grit her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, standing on shaking legs. "You'll regret that," she promised. "I'll end you myself."

"No," he said, glancing at her, "you won't."

She blinked and he vanished, disappearing into the air. Thunder roared from above and the deluge continued, hitting her full force. Her campfire, once protected from the rain, instead hissed and died in moments. Misty sobbed as she hugged herself, stood under the rainfall, unable to find the energy to move.

_You promised yourself you wouldn't cry._

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the heels of her palms and growled at the empty air. "Fuck you, Will," she snarled, uncertain if he could even hear her. "I _will_ become an Elite. Gary and I will take down the system and I'll make you regret ever crossing me."

**-O-O-O-**

Pikachu had opened his eyes.

It was only for a moment - a second, really, but it meant that he was recovering!

"I knew you would pull through!" Ash declared, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "I knew that this wouldn't be the last thing we ever did together. Just you wait Pikachu, you and I are going to take on the world together!"

He glanced out of the emergency room doors, where he could see two wanted posters hanging side by side. They looked dated, as if they were printed years ago, though the faces were almost perfect in their quality. A man and a woman, the latter of whom had long hair curled around like a coiled snake, the former of whom had a rose stem in his mouth, for whatever reason.

"We'll make this world a better place," Ash said, turning back to Pikachu. "And the best way for us to do that is to take down people like that. That way, no one innocent ever gets hurt."

**-O-O-O-**

_'Sceptile, unlike its predecessor groyvle, is a lone hunter, able to take down prey much larger than itself. An omnivore, sceptile breeds can survive on a vegetarian diet for a small amount of time, though it is recommended trained sceptile are fed meat at least once a week, as there have been numerous cases where sceptile forced into vegetarian only diets have rebelled, leaving their trainers, or worse._

__

__

_'The best way to train one of these creatures is by beginning with a treecko, which can be found-'_

"Here's the money. Now remember, we want this to look as real as possible. Clear out the centre; make sure no one else is here. We'll handle the rest."

He looked up from the textbook abruptly and smiled as he saw the money changing hands. Though she may have claimed not to care about anyone other than herself, those lumbered with endless amounts of student debt always seem to exploit her weak points. Being certain to wipe the smile from his face before she saw it, he turned back to the book, picking up where he left off seamlessly.

"Everything's a-okay on my end."

James sighed and folded the book closed, placing it on the seat beside him. As he looked over at his other companion, the light shone in such a way that it caught the metal implants that were yet to be covered by the re-growing fur. His father used to tell him that he was heartless, back when they used to speak with one another. He wondered if it was true and he was proving him wrong, or like so many other things, Father was wrong and had assumed the truth based on a small dataset.

"What about Jessie? She done yet, Jimbo?"

James sighed and leaned his head against the cool, tiled wall behind him. With his eyes closed, he let himself pretend that he was elsewhere, not left to deal with this… _field project._

"She was paying off the nurse when I saw her last." He opened his eyes and frowned as a strand of hair fell into his face. The blue was fading once again, revealing the bleach beneath. He would have to dye it again soon, though as he reached up to rub a strand of hair between his fingers, he noticed how quickly it was growing similar to straw. "I'm still amazed we even have anyone to follow. That lightning strike would have killed anyone else."

"Yeah," Meowth said, quietly, "they're good at what they do."

Though able to speak the human tongue, Meowth still struggled with pronunciation. 'They' came out as 'dey' and any word that ended in an 'o' was pronounced as if he were meowing. No one had ever shortened his name to Jim before, which made hearing 'Jimbeow' more of an oddity to grow used to.

James nodded. "They are," he agreed, his mind taking him to places he would rather avoid. An uncomfortable silence fell between them. _What could have been_ and _what is_ flashed through James' mind. All that education, all the money his parents spent on it and what had it gained him? As Jessie walked back into the room, James looked up, still considering the answers to his question.

Her blue eyes always seemed to be scanning the shadowed corners of each location, looking for things that may be hiding in the dark. Her violently red hair was tied in a long ponytail that ran down between her shoulders. The black shirt she wore seemed to be skin tight, though James knew it was made from the finest shelgonscale available for purchase.

She touched the knife on her belt, as if to remind herself that yes, it was still there. "We've got twenty minutes," she said. "That kid's nothing more than a little twerp, so we can't overdo this." She pulled off a black glove to reveal five miniaturised poké balls strapped to her hand. With a sigh she pulled her glove back on, flexing her fingers into a fist. "I don't have anything weak enough. Meowth." At the sound of her voice, the pokémon seemed to stand just a little straighter. "Any ideas? We all know you're not a battler."

"I got smarts instead of battle skills," Meowth said with a roll of his eyes. The action sent a shudder down James' spine. Everything he knew about feline biology told him that they were not capable of such an action. "We can just grab two poké balls from the healed section and use them. Create enough of a panic and they should follow your lead." He extended his claws and examined them, much like a person would scrutinise their fingernails. "We just wanna gauge what's happening with him right now, right? What'dya think, Jimbo? You're the one in charge of this little op here."

_Am I really?_ The claim of leadership seemed false. The project was certainly under his oversight, but he was beginning to feel less like a leader and more like a buffoon. Jessie had been assigned as his bodyguard and James knew that she could snap a man's neck without batting an eyelid. Their pokémon companion had more intelligence than he rightly should. Whilst James knew he was certainly no slouch in any department, the idea of leading felt… _wrong._

He glanced around the doorframe and found the boy in the emergency room, his pokémon still hooked up to the monitors. James was amazed that either of them were still breathing. Pikachu were never known for their durability and humans were… well, only human.

James raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jessie. She mirrored his reaction. They watched as the nurse they paid walked into the room and began checking on his pikachu. Her wig, bright pink and curled, is a perfect fit, just like they planned.

"We need to assess his strength," James whispered, aware he was paraphrasing Meowth. "The best way would be to engage him in a battle, but we need to make certain we set things up so that he won't try to run."

"That's simple," Meowth said, drawing their attention. "First, we trip the power in the lobby. Tripping the emergency room power means other pokémon might end up dying or worse. So we bait him to the lobby first. Whilst the lights are out, we grab two pokémon from here to use against him. Then we flick the lights back on, appear in the lobby in front of him and announce ourselves as pokémon thieves, here to steal everything in the centre." He looks up at Jessie. "You paid that police lady friend of yours to hang up those posters, right?"

"I did," Jessie confirmed. James followed her gaze down the pink-walled corridor, where he could see the rushed posters hung directly opposite the boy.

"Only one step left then," Meowth said, grinning. He reached into a disposable plastic bag next to James' foot and pulled free two large, red 'R's and two white shirts. "The back of these are covered in double-sided tape. Attach these letters to these shirts and we'll sell the illusion."

"Right," James said, following Meowth's instructions. "What illusion are we trying to sell anyway?"

"Simple really," Meowth said, a twinkle in his eye. "It's a way for the twerp to identify us easily. He needs to know who Team Rocket _really_ are."

"Meowth," Jessie said, holding the shirt out at arm's length, "you do realise the point of our operation is to be _covert?_ There's a reason people don't know about us. We don't even know who runs the organisation."

"Of course," Meowth said, smiling, "but only the twerp is here - our cover is safe. No one is going to believe a ten year old kid that thinks Team Rocket attacked him. If anything people will think people are using the rumours to attack without consequence. You two have got your missions, I have mine.

"Now come on, let's get to work."


	2. Rivals - I

Once upon a time, Wallace had been raised on stories of nightmarish pokémon that lived in the bowels of earth, torturing and consuming those that dared to enter their territory. Once Wallace had believed the stories to be nothing more than campfire tales designed to scare young trainers.

It took until he was fifteen to realise how very _wrong_ he was.

Some fifteen years after that first experience found him once more investigating the nightmares his grandparents had told him tales about. His footsteps echoed down the dark tunnels. Echoes of movement travelled up and down, rending his hearing untrustworthy. He held his flashlight in one hand, moving it erratically with every echoed scream or growl. An enlarged poké ball was kept ready in his other hand, waiting for the moment he would need it.

"You're tense. Scared of the dark?"

He surprised even himself by not screaming. However the frantic pattern he drew on the cave walls with his flashlight betrayed him.

"Don't _do_ that!" He thrust the poké ball between them, waving it threateningly. "That could have ended so badly. Do not not hear those things in here with us?" He kept his voice low, partially through fear of the denizens of the dark and partially because he did not trust his voice to hide how scared he felt. "You've heard the rumours. All the spirits of lost trainers never escaped and their souls still wander the caverns down here, searching for a new body from which to seek their revenge on the world that forgot them."

With the soft white glow of his bronzong behind him, Steven's features blurred seamlessly into the dark. To Wallace he seemed like a demon with bright, shining blue eyes.

"You're read too many old wives' tales," Steven said dismissively. Wallace could _hear_ the smirk on Steven's face. "It's probably just some misdreavous causing havoc. Maybe the acid geysers."

Wallace scowled. "You're not helping."

"I know." His playful tone would have been amusing if they were anywhere else. Instead, deep within the tunnels under Mount Silver, Wallace felt like he was on a slow descent to meet the devil. "There has to be something in here. Zinnia's intel is always on the money. The giant would have been here when the shrines on the mountain top were first being laid. He must have left something here. It's always been hidden, but he always left something behind."

Wallace sighed and buried his face in a hand. He wanted nothing more than the comfort of a plush armchair and an extra large vodka. Neither of which seemed like they were going to happen any time soon. "Why is it that _none_ of the locations we've traced him to thus far have been easily accessible?" He placed the poké ball he held back into his jacket pocket and ran his fingers along the moist, mildew-scented wall. Shining his flashlight on them, he frowned at the way his fingertips were stained orange. No matter how much he rubbed them on his hips, they remained marked. "We found nothing in the Terminus cave system back in Kalos," he grumbled. Just mentioning them brought his mind back to the horrors they had witnessed. "Well, nothing good."

Steven's laugh was as empty as the cave tunnels appeared to be. Behind him, his bronzong's eyes were a blinking red miasma that only served to further unsettle Wallace's nerves. "For someone who is sworn to guard the Sky Pillar and the connecting archipelago, you have an interesting concept of _easily accessible_."

"And you have a warped perspective of enjoyable excursions," Wallace spat back. He sighed as he pointed his flashlight towards the gloomy darkness and followed the light. His footfalls began to echo once again, continuing for what felt like an eternity. He could hear Steven keeping pace beside him, humming quietly to himself, clearly full of wonder at their surroundings. More than once he whispered his amazement at a particularly fascinating rock and began to theorise its composition.

Were he somewhere that was not cold, dark and assailing his nose with a constant smell of damp, Wallace too would enjoy getting to uncover the mysteries this place held. He loved diving under the ocean and exploring the remains of ships nestled on the ocean's floor. Unlike Steven - and Cynthia too, who was equally as obsessed as they were, just in another field - Wallace preferred solving ancient mysteries in locations where he could _see the sky_.

"Wait," Steven said suddenly, grabbing Wallace's shoulder. Wallace froze, complying in an instant. Years of travelling together left him with absolute trust in the man. If Steven told him they needed to break into a police station, Wallace would only ask '_when'_ rather than '_why_'.

"Trouble?" he whispered.

"I… I'm not certain." Wallace could _feel_ the grown that grew on Steven's face. His bronzong floated between them, twirling slowly. Even though the pokémon was a beacon of light in the nightmarish darkness, the shadows further in seemed unfazed by the light. If anything, they seemed to grow darker still, almost more _solid_.

"Something feels off down there," Steven said. His bronzong chimed a monotonous agreement. "I think we should withdraw for now."

Wallace saw nothing but darkness beyond. "If you think so, we'll leave."

"We shall," Steven whispered. His bronzong retreated to his side, pulsing with an energy that made Wallace's teeth vibrate. "Your instincts always save us on the ocean. Mine save us underground."

As if in answer, something below _howled_. The cave roof above them _shook_. Stones and dust rained over them. Cold, sweaty fear raced down Wallace's spine. His mouth grew dry in a moment. A perverted sense of _wrong_ made all of his hair stand on end.

"This is _just_ like what happened in the Terminus systems," Wallace grumbled. He tried to feign a sense of calm. Metallic hammering began to echo from below. It sounded like someone taking a sledgehammer to a door, attempting to break through. Each knell made him flinch.

"Reminds me more of when we were trapped in the Sevii Ocean with the very angry hoard of gyarados intent on butchering us."

Another demonic howl echoed, followed by a nightmarish screech. The metallic hammering continued, louder and louder. It seemed as if it were growing closer. A sound like metal scraping made Wallace's back erupt into goosebumps.

He took an involuntary step backwards. Something _crunched_ beneath his boot. He glanced down and felt his stomach turn.

"Well, at least I found the missing scout."

**-0-0-0-**

"Just because I lost your bike it doesn't mean that you have to follow me around!"

Though he would never admit it, the glare that Misty subjected him to was actually terrifying. It was enough to make him miss his footing and nearly trip over his own feet. Pikachu chittered in his ear, complaining about the unbalanced ride. Misty crossed her arms and _huffed_ at him, even as she continued walking after him.

"You're such an idiot, Ash Ketchum," she said. The words actually _hurt_. What right did she have to say such a thing? Sure he had taken her bike, but it had been to rush Pikachu to the Pokémon Centre. Of course, _maybe_ having Pikachu blow up the generator to try and stop the thieves from stealing all of the pokémon inside made him come off in a bad light, but still, at least he did something!

"Not only did you decide to take on a flock of spearow with a pokémon that you'd owned for less than a day, but then you decided to try and fight pokémon thieves with the very same pokémon - one who was _still healing!_"

Ash stopped walking and spun to face her. The shade of a cherry blossom tree made his neck feel like it was no longer burning. He took a deep breath and reached up to his shoulder to scratch Pikachu's head before answering. His mother had always told him the importance of not saying anything when he was angry, advice that he often struggled to follow. "I couldn't stand back and let them take the pokémon," he said, smiling as Pikachu cooed. "They'd taken Nurse Joy hostage! What would you have done?"

Misty growled as she rolled her eyes at him. Ash wondered if she was part growlithe. People in Viridian _had_ to be able to hear her anger. The pokémon almost definitely could - it had to be the reason why they had seen nothing since leaving the confines of the city. It had seemed like a good idea when Misty had suggested they go out to the mountains west of Viridian and get some training in. He glanced towards the mountain ranges and was certain he could see the hints of _something_ at the mountain's summit. His heart raced just a bit faster in his chest.

The Pokémon League.

One day he would be there, he promised himself. He would take centre stage and show the world his abilities.

"One," Misty counted off, oblivious to his train of thought and drawing his attention back to reality, "that nurse's name wasn't Joy and I have no idea where you got that idea from." She went as far as holding up a finger as she listed her reasons. "Two, your pikachu was still healing. Three, any idiot would have realised that taking on adult, experienced trainers with the one that had barely recovered from _life-threatening_ injuries was a bad idea! Four, they were clearly _going easy on you!_"

"Well you're just jealous because I'm the one who beat them!"

The way she sighed did nothing to fight back the anger he could feel welling up. Even Pikachu's soft whispers as he stroked Ash's ear did little to help "Ash," Misty said, her voice suddenly soft, "do you even know who Team Rocket are?"

"Of course," he said quickly, "who doesn't?"

Her raised eyebrow made him instantly aware that he had said the wrong thing. "Oh, so you're already familiar with the whispers of a group that so far, have no evidence linking them to actually existing?" Ash swallowed, resigned in the mistake that he had made. "You already knew about the people that the police haven't found any solid proof about? You've already met the people who, by all intents and purposes, seem to be just _horror stories_?"

"No," he admitted, deflating. Pikachu chimed a reassuring noise in his ear. It was strange to think that a few days ago he had received the pokémon and it wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. Since he had recovered, it was almost as if the pokémon had done a complete one-eighty on his previous stance.

"I thought as much," Misty said with a sigh. "Look Ash," she said, her tone softening again. "I'm not saying that you didn't battle anyone. What I'm saying is that I doubt it was _actually_ Team Rocket. And I'm here now, still with you because well, no offence but… you're a bit of an idiot."

The words stung, even the second time around.

"Don't interrupt me," she said quickly, holding up a finger to silence him, before he had even thought of what to say. "Ash, I've seen greenhorn trainers before. I've battled my share and I _was_ one. None of them would have been so stupid to do what you've done. And yet, it was still incredibly brave." Before the praise could cause his ego to swell too much,she shook her head at him and added, "Reckless and idiotic, but brave. When I saw you that day, after your pikachu had attacked the spearow I thought you were dead. You _should_ have been dead. I don't know how you survived."

He pressed his fingers to the lightning bolt scars beneath his eyes. Pikachu brushed his paws through Ash's hair, whispering something akin to an apology. The nurse in the pokémon centre had mentioned as much to him. Truthfully, even he was uncertain as to how he survived. What he failed to understand was _why_ it had to be such a big deal. Pokémon could take more abuse than that and survive, so what made people such a wildly different case?

"Ash, I'm sorry. I know you're still upset that your mom hasn't answered the phone whenever you've called her. I know it's something you're pretending you're okay with. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, really. I just want you to think a little first, so you don't end up dead."

He flinched as he tried to draw his thoughts away from where her words made them travel. His mother had made him promise to call and yet, when he had she was unavailable. Only Professor Oak telling him that she was busy had made him feel any better. He still had no idea how the professor knew so much about his mother's activities, but hearing that she was alright, just busy with work and not in trouble made him feel a little better.

Even so, the stabbing feeling in his heart whenever he thought about it was almost on the verge of causing him physical pain, in addition to the emotional suffering.

"I'm worried if I turned my back on you and left you alone you'd probably end up dead." There was no malice in Misty's words. They were stated like a fact, as if she were commenting on the blue of the sky, or the crispness of the breeze that ruffled their clothes. "If you died, well technically the blood would be on my hands. I'd have seen that you needed help and ignored it. I also want my bike back," she added quickly. "Though since you lost it, I'll just take half the money you make from battles until you've paid me back."

He knew that there should have been more important things to ask, given everything she had just said. Instead he asked, "You make money from pokémon battles?"

He was certain Pikachu buried his face in his hands at the same moment Misty did the same. She sighed as she adjusted the straps on her backpack and pointed towards the gravelled hill behind the cherry blossom they stood under. "There's a pond up there," she said, changing subject. "We'll head there to rest and then we can figure out what we're doing for training."

Ash looked at where she indicated and for the life of him, could not see the pond of which she spoke. "How do you even know what's around here?" He tried standing on his tiptoes. It was just as unsuccessful.

"I've travelled before," Misty said, as if that explained everything. "I caught my poliwag here about a year ago."

"You can catch poliwag here?" He felt the excitement bubble in his stomach. He had _always_ wanted a poliwhirl.

Once again, Misty sighed. "Ash, you have a pokédex. Have you ever thought about using it to see what pokémon live nearby?"

He felt the heat rise in his cheeks. "I didn't know it could do that," he admitted.

He was certain that whatever Misty said under her breath was _not_ nice. She shook her head and with a smile, said, "How about this? Whilst we're travelling together, if you think of anything and want to ask it, even if it's a stupid question, I'll help you. When we get back to the pokémon centre later I'll show you what the pokédex can do and we'll figure out what you really need to know more about, rather than me constantly just being surprised at what you don't."

The way she could make him go from feeling like nothing to feeling important left him more than a little confused. He smiled, deciding not to focus on it and instead chuckled as he said, "Gee, thanks Misty."

Though she said it was nothing, Ash felt otherwise. Rather than questioning it, he focused on climbing up the deceptively steep hill. His legs burnt with every step he took. More than once he thought that his feet would give up beneath him. The trees closed in around them, trapping the heat and the humidity. It began to feel like he was walking through a rainforest. Pidgey chirped in the trees above. Sweat ran down his back, his face and his neck. The brim of his hat was soaked through. He wanted to give up, to let his screaming legs ret. His only saving grace was that it someone had cut steps into the slope of what Ash refused to call a hill any further.

It was by all rights, a miniature mountain. The first seeds of doubt began to take root in his mind, questioning if he'd ever be able to climb to the summit of the Pokémon League.

The weight of Pikachu on his shoulder was beginning to hamper his ability to move, yet it kept him focused at the same time. Misty seemed like the climb was an effortless thing. Ash grit his teeth and forced himself forwards. He refused to let himself be outmatched by her. He was _done_ being a burden that she felt she had to care for.

By the time they reached the pond, Ash wanted to throw himself in it. It was a sight to look at. The water was a clear blue, almost sparkling in the light that made it through the trees. A wooden pier had been built slightly into it, with indents from fishing poles. Honestly, Ash considered it to be more of a lake than a pond.

A goldeen broke the water's surface, leaping into the sky. It landed back with a splash that caused ripples to dance over the water's surface, disturbing a pack of thirty rattata drinking from the water's edge.

What caught Ash's attention the most was the mop of spiky brown hair on the pier. Though he was back to them, Ash was certain he recognised him. His purple top was soaked, visibly stuck to his skin. The colourful orange and pink swimming trunks he wore were equally soaked through. His bare feet were beneath the water, making small movements that disturbed the fishing pole he held onto.

"Gary!" Ash shouted, at almost the exact moment as Misty.

Gary turned his head and grinned at them both. "Hey Mist," he said, rising to his feet. "Fancy seeing you here." He secured his pole in place before approaching them, and to Ash's surprise, they _hugged. _The sense of betrayal felt like a slap in the face. Why had Misty never mentioned that she knew him? He had mentioned Gary what felt like countless times. How could she have ignored the fact she knew his rival?

"It's almost like you knew I was here or something," Gary said, smirking. "I mean, what are the chances of us randomly meeting here otherwise?" Gary let her go and turned to look at Ash, a strange look on his face. "Hey, uh, Ash. Good to see you've made it here too."

It took all of Ash's self control not to shout childishly at them both. It was perfectly possible for Misty not to have mentioned it because she actually _liked_ Gary - and how _anyone_ could manage such a thing was beyond Ash's comprehension. Instead, he took a deep breath and said, "How comes you never mentioned you two know each other?"

Both of them blinked slowly, as if confused. They looked at each other, sharing a look that left Ash wondering if he had asked something stupid. Misty was the first to break, turning to him with a confused expression on her face as she said, "You… never asked? Gary and I have known each other for years but well, you've never mentioned him to me before?"

"I haven't?" Ash felt like something had taken his stomach and flipped it inside his body. Pikachu gave him a curious look, as if confused as to what was happening. Ash was certain he had mentioned something about Gary - he _knew_ that he had told Pikachu about him.

The nurse _had_ mentioned that the lightning strike may have affected his memories slightly, but so far he had been ignoring that as much as possible.

He felt like his brain was wading through tar. "I haven't mentioned him before?" He looked at Pikachu and found no answers there either. "Sorry," he said, biting his bottom lip. For some strange reason, he felt like crying. "I thought I'd mentioned Gary before."

"And who could blame you?" Gary said. He had one hand on his hip as he made a gesture Ash didn't understand with the other. Behind him, in the water, Ash could see something bubbling near Gary's fishing pole. "I'm _amazing_, after all. Everyone should think and talk about me."

"Jackass," Misty commented. Ash ignored them both as he watched the ripples continue spreading. His heart leapt into his throat when the top of a scaly blue head poked through the water's surface. A _squirtle_ emerged from beneath the water, looked at the fishing pole in such a _disappointed_ way before looking over at them.

"A squirtle!" Ash shouted, barely able to contain his excitement. He was already reaching for a poké ball when suddenly Pikachu bounced down from his shoulder and smacked his hand with his tail. "_Ow,"_ Ash grunted. "You know, you could have just _said_ something."

Pikachu raced back up his arm, smiling as he pulled on Ash's ear and pointed towards Gary, who was watching them in obvious intrigue.

"That would be Donnie," Gary said, sparing them one last unreadable glance before looking back to the water. The squirtle spit several large, iridescent bubbles into the air before dipping back beneath the water's surface. "Before you guys got here we got bored and were playing tug of war with the fishing line."

"Aw," Misty grunted, "I'd have loved to have seen you get your butt kicked by a teeny, tiny, adorable little squirtle."

"Psh," Gary said, waving a hand at her, "you _wish_. Besides, he's having a bit of downtime now. Ritchie's still hanging round Viridian and Holly's already shot off to Pewter, but we had a quick battle before all was said and done."

"You've battled other people already?" Ash whispered. "But… what about us? We said we'd battle when we both had a pokémon, remember?" Growling, he pointed at him. "I challenge you to a battle now, Gary Oak!" Pikachu jumped to the ground, his cheeks sparking as he too shouted his own challenge.

Gary shared a look with Misty that Ash struggled to understand. With a roll of his eyes and shrug of his shoulders, Gary stepped forwards, removing two poké balls from the pocket of his swimming trunks. "Fine," he said with a bored expression. "Two on two?"

At that, Pikachu's sparks appeared to die a little. "Um, I only have Pikachu," Ash admitted.

Gary stared at him, as if waiting for the puncling to a joke. Finally he groaned and shook his head, resting his hand against it. "You're not taking this seriously, Ash. Your pokémon is never going to get stronger if you just let it ride around on your shoulder. It doesn't matter how strong your pokémon are - if you don't have enough to defend yourself, you'll end up injured, or worse-"

"_Expelled,"_ Misty said with snigger.

"Shut up," Gary replied, though he too was laughing. Ash felt even _more_ confused than he did before. "Gramps must have made you listen to his _many_ lectures on that too."

"Possibly," Ash said with a shrug. As much as he tried, he found it impossible to ignore the burning heat rising in his face. "I don't remember, okay?! How many pokémon do you have? Me and Pikachu will beat all of them!"

Gary held up four fingers in answer.

Ash felt his jaw drop open. "How do you even have four pokémon already?"

"Donnie from Gramps, caught Shadow years ago, Talon in Route One and got another from here. Left out getting one from Viridian at the moment, at least until there's a swarm or a migration." He shrugged, as if it were no big deal. Ash felt like he had missed the invitation to a pokémon catching party. Even Pikachu sat back on his hind legs and made a confused sound. "You've read up on the Nuzlocke Regulations, right?" Gary asked.

He _wanted_ to pretend that he knew otherwise. "Nuz-_who-ha_?" he asked.

"Ash," Misty said quietly. Ash got the distinct impression she was about to say something else before she shook her head. "There was an environmentalist over in Unova who was a big advocate of pokémon rights -the media was always saying that he could _speak_ with pokémon. It sounded silly, really, but people flocked behind him. They formed a group called something arduous and complicated-"

"Pokémon League Association for Safe Maintenance of Agriculture," Gary interjected. "Plasma for short."

"Yeah," Misty said. "Anyway, he later found out that some pokémon actually _want _to battle and grow stronger. He left the organisation and did some research, took it to the Unovan government and they haven't made it a law yet, but it's a recommendation now. All trainers should restrict themselves to only capturing one pokémon per location they visit, so as to not disrupt the local ecosystem."

"That's…" Ash struggled to think of a way to sum up how he felt about it. "But, why? What if all the pokémon _want_ to be trained?"

"Oh, Ash," Misty sighed. "What happens if you catch all the rattata in an area where other pokémon eat them? All the other pokémon either starve, leave or start hunting other pokémon."

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," Gary said, smirking.

"Smartass," Misty threw back.

"Well where's this Nuzlocke guy now then?" Pikachu, no longer interested in the conversation, walked over to the pier to stare into the water. Ash kept an eye on him as he continued, "If he's so amazingly smart, why isn't he over here making sure we all follow his laws?"

"He changed his name to N and began travelling instead," Gary answered. "Apparently he befriended a pokémon no one had seen for centuries and started travelling with that, but then people were also saying his dad was a villain and tried exploiting his fame." He shrugged. "Don't know for certain but they did think of some good things, so try and take a look at them some time."

Smiling, he tossed one poké ball to his free hand and pocketed it. "So Ash, you wanted a battle? Tell ya what - I'll go easy on you. I just caught this one a day ago; it's still temperamental and kinda wild. If you can beat it, I'll use my strongest pokémon."

"I'll beat all your pokémon, just you watch!" Ash declared. "Pikachu!" At his shout, his pokémon raced back to his side and growled at Gary. "Bring it on!"

Ash felt his pulse throb in his chest as Gary threw a poké ball forwards. The eruption of light left stars dancing in his eyes. When the light cleared, he saw a brown feathered pokémon with two heads. The pokémon squawked, narrowing two sets of eyes on him.

"Wait a sec," Misty said, moving closer to Gary. "Aren't doduo meant to have black necks if they're male and beige if they're female?" She pointed to the doduo. "Why does that one have one of each?"

Blinking, Ash saw for the first time what Misty was talking about. Pointing his pokédex at the pokémon, the information that came up confirmed her suspicions and described Gary's pokémon as a hermaphrodite.

"What's a… herma...pur...ro…"

"_Hermaphrodite_," Gary said flawlessly, to Ash's ire. "Basically means it's genetically male and female. Apparently most pokémon like that are sterile and can't evolve either, but I wanted to see what would happen with something like doduo. They're essentially naturally selected conjoined twins anyway, so this one might be the next step in their evolution."

At that, the doduo squawked again and, turning its heads against each other, began to fight with itself.

"Stop that!" Gary barked, slapping his hands together. To Ash's chagrin, the pokémon obeyed instantly, snapping back to alertness. Ash noticed both Misty and Pikachu studying the pokémon the entire time, as if dissecting it in a museum.

"School's on hold until after this battle," Gary said, smirking. "Now come on Ash, I'll even let you have the first move."

"Thundershock!" Ash screamed, wasting no time. Electricity crackled around Pikachu's cheeks. The doduo shrieked. Lightning flashed. At the last possible moment, the bird _moved_. Electricity slammed into the ground, charring it. Ash coughed as the smell of burnt grass stung his nostrils.

Ash grit his teeth. "Fine then, Pikachu, show it that you're faster! Quick attack!"

By the way Gary smirked, Ash was certain that he had played right into his hands. "Trip it," he commanded. Pikachu snarled. His body became a blur. He raced for the doduo, almost disappearing to Ash's eyes. Instead of fleeing, the doduo stood still. At the last possible moment it lifted a foot and caught Pikachu completely of guard. Crying as he stumbled, Pikachu lost his balance and fell face first into the ground, skidding a foot along the dirt.

"That's cheating!" Ash accused. "You can't fight dirty!"

"Says who?" Gary shot back. "You're going to be battling pokémon that are trying to defend themselves at any cost. If you can't fight dirty and you expect them to fight fair, you'll lose. Just like you're going to do now. Doduo, kick it!"

His pokémon squawked and before Ash could process what he was seeing, it appeared in front of his pikachu. It _punted_ Pikachu like a soccer ball, sending him flying. Ash winced as his pokémon bounced along the ground, once, twice, before coming to a stop at the water's edge.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried. Pikachu's legs shook as he tried to get back to his feet. Unable to support his own weight, he collapsed on the ground, panting, resting a paw on his injured side. "Come on buddy, get up!"

"That's enough," Gary said, recalling his pokémon. "I'm not going to carry on fighting. Any more and I'll end up doing permanent damage to your pokémon."

"So you forfeit?" Ash snarled.

"No Ash, _you lose_. I'm not going to hospitalise your pokémon to prove that point. We'll battle again when you actually know a thing or two about pokémon."

"I'm _not stupid_!" Ash screamed as he raced to Pikachu's side. Gary shrugged dismissively at him. Misty said nothing as she approached Ash, her mouth drawn into a thin line. She reached out to touch Pikachu, meeting Ash's eyes before she did so. At his nod, she ran her hand along Pikachu's head, smoothing out the fur as she reached into her bag and withdrew a spray bottle.

"Use this," she said, pressing it into Ash's hand. "It's an antiseptic spray that will give a boost to Pikachu's natural healing abilities." She stood quickly, spinning round to face Gary. "Don't be too harsh on him," she said. "He's been in the pokémon centre for the past few days waiting for his pikachu to recover - it's not like he's had time to do any training."

"There's still such a thing as _theory_," Gary said.

Misty sighed, shaking her head. "Gary, there's such a thing as a bad winner. I get what you're trying to do, but you're going about it wrong." She squatted down beside Ash and took the medicinal spray back off him, applying it to Pikachu herself. "Try not to use League terms for battle abilities," she said.

"Why?" Ash asked, confused. He watched the way that she parted Pikachu's fur and sprayed the scraped skin beneath without any apparent difficulty.

"Think about it, Ash. Everyone will know what you're planning straight away." She spared him a brief glance before looking back at Pikachu. "I know what you're about to say, so don't. The Elites use those terms in exhibition matches so that everyone can understand what's going on. If you're going to battle gyms, they'll only use those terms until you've got four badges, then they'll pull out all the stops."

"Then what do I do instead?" Ash asked.

Misty shrugged. "That's up to you. Gym leaders, Elites and Champions have their pokémon at such a level that they can understand all these different commands. Some even make sure their pokémon can understand other languages. The League terms are good for starting off training a pokémon so it knows what you mean when you say that, but after that, it's a good idea to teach them other commands."

"But, Pikachu knew what I meant instantly when I told him what to use."

Gary snorted as he walked over to them. "You got that pikachu from my grandpa. Gramps isn't stupid - he makes sure that all the pokémon given out as starters know basic commands so that everyone has an easier time."

"Oh," Ash said, focusing on the way Pikachu's bruising was slowly disappearing before his eyes. Cooing at Misty's touch, his pokémon nuzzled against her hand, embracing the attention, pain apparently forgotten. Ash smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I have a lot to learn, huh? How comes you know so much about this, Misty?"

She sighed as she moved Pikachu into Ash's arms and stood up. "I… my family… I used to be a gym leader."

"Really?" Ash felt his heart rate explode again. "A gym leader? That's awesome! Hey, wait a minute, that means I can challenge you for a badge, right?"

"_Used to be_, Ash," Misty said, turning from him. "Some… things happened. I'm not a gym leader anymore. My family have nothing to do with the gym now."

"Oh," Ash whispered. "Sorry."

"Hey Ash," Gary said suddenly, crouching down beside him. "Look, I want to talk to Misty for a bit. Why don't you wait here until your pikachu recovers, set up camp and Misty and I can search for some firewood and something to eat."

"Uh, sure," Ash said, his mind a mess. How did someone even get fired from being a gym leader anyway? He was sure he had never heard of anything like that before.

"Awesome," Gary said, slapping Ash on the back. "We'll be back in a bit, Ashy-boy. If you're feeling up to it later, I'll even help you train."

Ash looked up sharply, expecting some sort of prank. Unable to see any obvious signs of one, he smiled and rubbed Pikachu's chin. "Sure, Gary. That sounds good."

"Awesome." Gary reached beneath the collar of his t shirt to pull free a poké ball attached to a necklace beneath. He recalled his squirtle - pointing the poké ball at the water's surface and getting a perfect shot on the first go - before pressing two fingers to his head and saluting Ash. "Smell ya later."

**=0=0=0=**

As much as he tried, Gary found himself unable to recall the exact point that the League had become so much of a tourist attraction. When Daisy had first gone travelling he had met her at base camp where the diverging paths to Mount Silver and Victory Road began. Though it was only four years ago, the camp had been composed of nothing but a few emergency supply stores and a few rudimentary healing facilities, with all the prices jacked up through the roof.

Since then it had transformed completely. The small hut he remembered that sold the best ramen he had ever tasted had been replaced with a tourist clothes shop, selling League-branded waterproof jackets, magnets and trainer hats. The path to Victory Road where they had watched Daisy proceed to her league challenge - where their father had managed to fall flat over a geodude hidden in the ground - was now prefixed by a red arch that was decorated with children's drawings of the League badges.

"Come on," Misty said as she grabbed his wrist. "We'll head towards Tohjo. There should be less tourists there."

Gary scowled at the latest coach to pull up. It was a bright green _monstrosity_ with dancing ludicolo painted over the side. His grandpa had mentioned in passing that people were more interested in pokémon battling now than they had been in the past. When Samuel Oak had stepped down as Champion the League went through a succession of subpar Champions until Lance convinced the League to close ranks for a few years. When he had announced that the League was open to appointing a new Champion once more, everyone and their mother had suddenly taken up pokémon training. Gary knew that it had benefits most people could only dream of, though he appreciated the fact it resulted in the League providing better healthcare for their pokémon, as well as better long-term prospects for trainers and even insurance policies to cover them.

Though of course it also meant people like _Will_ would suddenly emerge from their nests.

Gary shoved his hands into his pockets with more force than he needed. He kicked a pebble into the road and frowned as a bright blue coach raced over it, halting the pebble's path along the gravel. Gary growled at the road, choosing instead to hop over a small wooden fence and walk along the uneven grass. There was a sheer drop to his left, where he could hear the waves crashing against the rocks below, though he stomped across the ground, daring the universe to add to his bad mood.

"Gary," Misty said as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him closer to the fence. He looked over the edge and failed to see the real problem. They were still below the clouds. He could see the hill that he would roll down, if his footing failed him. Hell, depending on the speed he was going, he could even guess which boulder would stop his descent and break his body.

"Gary!" Misty hissed, dragging him back to the fence and holding onto the top of his arm. "Stop it! You're scaring me!"

"_I'm_ scaring _you_?" He spun to face her, his fists balled so tight that he could feel the circulation in his hands beginning to cut off. "That freaky clown _attacked_ you and _I'm_ the one that's scaring you?" He turned away from her and picked up a rock, picturing Will's face in the clouds before he threw it as far as he could manage. Nailing the imaginary Will's eye, Gary turned back to face Misty and felt his arms shake. "I'm _pissed_, Mist. I'm… I don't even know the words for how _angry _I am. He _threatened _you. He dared to use his freaking _magic psychic powers _on you. I can't tell Gramps because I'm sure he has his own problems he's keeping from me. I can't tell Daisy because she'll stop us both from travelling and I'm too _weak _to do anything about it myself!"

"I know," Misty growled, matching his tone. "You don't think I feel the same way? _I_ was the one he threatened, you spikey-haired _prick_. It was _me _that he choked without laying a finger on me. You know as well as I do that we're to keep psychics and dark pokémon on us to prevent people like him and Sabrina hurting us and yet, he took out Ren _without any effort_."

"Mist-"

"Don't," she snarled, knocking away the hand he had started to offer. "Don't try and say anything to make me feel better. You can't. Gary, if there's one thing we've learnt so far with our lives it's that _shit happens_." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, puffing out her chest as she stood tall. "I was scared, yes. I'm _still _scared. But you know what? I'm not going to let that rule me." She plucked a poké ball from her belt and enlarged it. "Your plan still stands, Gary. I want to become an Elite. I want to help change the world. I'm not strong enough yet - I knew that anyway, but this proves it. If I want to help anyone, I need to be able to defend myself first. If I train my pokémon, I need to train myself." She tossed the poké ball forwards without a sound. Blinking past the white spots in his vision, Gary smiled as the familiar sight of Misty's vaporeon formed.

The pokémon yawned as it stretched, its blue fur almost the colour of the sky. Beneath the fur Gary could see the jet black of the pokémon's skin. Her tail straightening, the vaporeon mewed and bounced up to Gary, purring as she rubbed her head against his hand.

He climbed back over the fence to the side of the path and began to walk slowly towards Tohjo Falls. He could see the waterfalls in the distance, a sparkling blue that seemed to blend perfectly with the surrounding sky. At such a distance the mountain seemed to be a shade of black he could believe was obsidian.

"Jasmine," Misty said. Her vaporeon turned and bounced after her, rubbing her face and body against Misty's legs. She purred as she walked in front of Misty, pressing against her legs whenever Misty took another step. Misty smiled and walked in an odd half-crouch as she reached down to stroke her pokémon behind the ears. "We need to train harder than we ever have before. Gary thinks he knows how our parents died. I want us to be Champion level. I want us to be able to change the world. But to do that, I'll need your help. As much as I train you, I need you to help me get stronger. We're partners; all of us. A team is only as strong as its weakest link and right now, that's me."  
Her pokémon answered by rubbing her face against Misty's hands, purring louder than before.  
"You're sweet," Misty continued, "but I'm right, I am the weakest member of this team."

Gary could see this conversation going one of two ways. Both paths ended with Misty feeling worse about herself than she already did. "Hey Jasmine," he said, drawing their attention. He held up a poké ball for the pokémon to look at. "I've got your old buddy here." With a flash of light, his eevee materialised between them. Mewling, his pokémon took one look at the vaporeon and growled playfully, leaping at her and rolling onto its back.

"Shadow's still as playful as ever, huh?" Misty slowed her pace to fall back in line with Gary. They watched as their pokémon bounced across the path and headed towards the steep, grassy hill to disturb a pidgey pecking at the ground.

"Strange," Misty said, a grin on her face. "I always thought he'd end up as dour and pouty as you."

Gary rolled her eyes at her laughter, though found himself smiling as Jasmine began chasing Shadow, spitting small beams of ice for his eevee to dodge. "Blame Daisy," he said. "Her growlithe is a big bundle of dumb fluff and Daisy loves giving pokémon attention." He smiled as Shadow rolled around in the grass, covering himself in dirt and twigs. Even beneath the grime, Shadow's fur seemed to shine _silver _as the sun hit it.

"So," Gary said as they crossed the path to join their pokémon, "you sure about travelling with Ash?"

"I don't know," Misty admitted with a sigh. When they reached the grassy bank she collapsed on the floor and began to pluck stalks of grass from the ground, pulling them to pieces between her fingers. "I mean, I know I need to train and get stronger. Maybe travelling with a greenhorn isn't the best idea for that, but… he's a dumbass. He needs help and I'm honestly worried he would be another dead trainer if I left him on his own." She sighed as she tossed desiccated grass into the air. "Not just that though, Gary. His pikachu took out a whole flock of spearow and Ash was basically ground zero in that explosion. Somehow he survived. I mean, I've heard stories of people surviving things that should kill them, but seeing it…" She looked up as her vaporeon crawled over, and smiled as Jasmine rested her head in Misty's lap. "Besides, he's doing a gym challenge. It'll be good for me to see the others, see what they think I should do."

"You sound like you're searching for excuses," Gary said, not entirely convinced. "I mean, Ash is mostly harmless, but-" He looked up sharply as he saw Shadow race at something in the distance. With the mental picture of his pokémon tumbling down the mountainside, Gary's stomach did a flip. He called out Shadow's name and raced towards the pokémon, trying to tune out the horrible thoughts that sprung into his mind.

The relief that flooded through him when he saw Shadow had just found a pokémon almost floored him. He frowned as he stopped, trying to figure out just what it was Shadow had found. The pokémon was in a tree, paw buried in a combee nest. Gary saw a combee on the ground, dead from what appeared to be burns. Shadow stood on the other side of the tree, growling up at the feeding pokémon.

"Is that a teddiursa?" Gary said, to himself. He was aware that Misty had yet to move, having waited back to see what the situation was. _Her loss_, he thought to himself, smirking as the teddiursa looked down at him. Its eyes, big and black, made it seem deceptively adorable. White fur formed the pattern of a crescent moon on its head. The rest of its beige fur was slathered in fresh honey, which the pokémon was slowly eating, its eyes focused on them.

"Unusual to see them without their mothers." Gary glanced around, just to be certain. Attacking a cub within sight of the mother was a sure way to being eaten. If this one was out alone, feeding on honey, it had to have been abandoned, or something had happened to its mother. "Alright Shadow, I think you've found us a new teammate. Now, knock it out the tree!"

His eevee leaped up, growling as its tail shone like metal. With a flip, Shadow brought his tail down on the trunk of the tree. The teddiursa snarled, sinking its claws into the branch it stood on. It looked between the honey, Shadow and Gary, and making its decision, jumped from the tree. Gary gasped, moving back a step as the pokémon's fists burst into flame. Screeching, the teddiursa brought its flaming fists down to attack Shadow.

Shadow was faster. He leaped backwards, watching as the teddiursa slammed its fists into the ground. Flames licking the grass around the impact, Shadow paced a wide circle around the pokémon, baring his teeth in a growl. As the teddiursa made to move, the eevee leaped forwards. He sunk his teeth into the teddiursa's wrist, dispelling the flame. As the teddiursa cried out, Shadow snarled, digging his claws into the pokémon's face.

Gary smirked as he tossed a poké ball at the teddiursa. As it vanished into red light, his eevee danced backwards, fur raised, snarling at the ball. He watched, breath held as the ball rocked once, twice, three times before finally it stilled.

"Hell yeah," Gary whispered, grinning. Shadow raced up to him, poké ball in his mouth, tail wagging. Gary smiled as he rubbed the pokémon's head, congratulating him on the battle.

"And Gary catches another pokémon," Misty said, startling him. Gary spun around, certain he had done a good job of hiding his fear, up until the point he saw Misty's smile. Accepting defeat, he scowled at her as she took the teddiursa's poké ball from him and scanned it with her own pokédex, painted some shade of blue with what he assumed was nail polish.

"You know, Gramps would kill you if he saw that's how you treated his inventions."

"Whatever," Misty replied with a roll of her eyes. Her vaporeon padded towards them slowly and taking one look at Shadow, curled around him and began to groom him behind the ears.

"He'd be happy it's being used at all." Misty shut her pokédex and tossed the ball back at him. His stomach felt like it dropped to the floor when he nearly failed catching the ball, his mind instantly picturing the pokémon bursting open and attacking him. "Speaking of being used, don't forget to train all these pokémon you're catching."

"I know," Gary said. "Give it longer and my battles will actually be interesting, not just smacking each other until one's weak enough to capture."

He saw another coach full of tourists back on the road, heading back down to civilisation. The coach, an obnoxious shade of bright blue, was decorated with a large banner proclaiming a '_new and improved Cerulean gym!' _Gary tried his best to move so that he was stood in Misty's line of sight, to stop her from seeing it. By the way she flinched and looked down at her pokémon, he knew he failed. "Anyway Mist," he said, placing the teddiursa's ball onto his belt, "you should think about getting something new. There's psyduck near here. We can go after one of those?"

"No," she said, downcast. Just as he was about to ask her the obvious, stupid question, she looked up at met his eyes. "I've been thinking that I need to get something else. Something different. I want to be the world's best water pokémon trainer, but that doesn't mean I should train exclusively those. Look at Lance, at Bruno. Hell, Sinnoh's Elites only recently started meeting challengers with teams made up of their specialism."

"True," Gary said, thinking. Auntie Aggie - as much as she hated him calling her that - had an extremely diverse team of pokémon. Sure, she had a full roster of ghosts she had collected from all around the world - she would not have been much of a medium otherwise - but Gary always smiled at the memory of his father dressing as Santa one Christmas and creeping into their house with Agatha's stantler carrying a bag of presents to sell the illusion.

He shook his head, clearing away those memories. They were still too painful. Instead he looked down at Shadow, snorting at the sight of his pokémon's content face as Jasmine groomed him. "That's a good idea, Mist. You'll get to learn your strengths and weaknesses firsthand."

"I know, Gary," she said with a smile. "I do have a brain in my skull, believe it or not."

She opened her mouth to say more. Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a horrible _screeching _sound. Gary flinched, drawing his neck into his shoulders. Their pokémon stopped, frozen in place.

It sounded like the tyres on a car slamming on, trying to stop in time. Gary pictured the coach going too close to the edge of the cliff, hitting the barrier, breaking through.

Then he heard the _crunch _and the loud, _pained _sound of whatever it hit.

He had barely even processed what was happening before he realised Misty was racing towards the sounds, her vaporeon by her side. He blinked, his brain feeling extremely sluggish. Finally all the pieces fell into place. He gasped, calling her name and raced after her, Shadow at his side.

It sounded like the coach had hit something. His mind raced through all the possible opportunities. They had moved south of the base camp - far, far away from Ash, without meaning to. The pokémon were stronger here, more territorial. God forbid the coach had smacked into a larvitar baby, or an aron. The parents would _not _be pleased. Nor would an adult ursaring.

His brain raced as quickly as his legs. He followed after Misty, developing tunnel vision. He could only see her and the path in front of him. Nothing else mattered. He stumbled over the uneven ground, swearing as he lost his balance. He would _not _let her face anything alone. They started racing downhill. He saw the obnoxious advertisement for a new Cerulean gym. His heart sunk.

He saw the impact dent on the front of the coach. Blood was smeared over the front bumper. The glass of the headlights had shattered. Steam was pouring out of the coach's engine. He saw blood over the gravel road, heard the cries of the pained pokémon. The coach driver had emerged, his face pale, a phone placed to his ear. Misty screamed something at him as she vaulted over the fence, rushing to the injured pokémon's side.

Gary's breath nearly left him as he saw the damage. _So much blood_. He had to struggle against the threat of his breakfast coming back up. Misty, not caring about the sight, had knelt by the pokémon's side, covering herself in its blood. She was trying to soothe it, having her pokémon help her to avoid the pokémon's injured thrashing.

He knew that ponyta were wild in the area, yet Gary had thought that all pokémon that lived near roads had some sense about how to cross them. Murkrow had been reported to drop their prey in front of speeding cars, killing it for them. Vullaby had been known to follow after certain makes of vehicles, knowing that they were the most likely to leave a trail of roadkill in their wake.

Shadow yipped, drawing Gary back to reality. He swore as he raced to Misty's side, shuddering at the sound of the blood under his shoes. He could hear the coach driver's panicked voice as he tried to speak to what Gary hoped was the police.

The ponyta whinnied, fear obvious is its eyes. Two broken legs, a gash across its side so large that Gary could _see inside_.

He turned, feeling the bile rise up in his throat. Misty, having done everything she apparently could, pressed a poké ball to the pokémon's head. The pokémon disappeared in a flash of light and thankfully, stayed contained within.

"I'm taking this to Viridian," Misty announced, withdrawing her vaporeon. She grabbed another poké ball, calling forth her starmie. Covered in blood, Misty looked like she had been the victim of a bad horror movie. Gary struggled to look at her without feeling queasy. She met his eyes, her face deadly serious. "Ash doesn't have a phone - find a way to contact him after you're done here." She placed a hand on the top of her starmie. A flash of light and they vanished, teleporting back to civilisation.

Gary took a breath, unable to hear anything but the pounding of his pulse in his ears. He called out his squirtle and instructed him to wash away the blood from the road and the front of the coach. The last thing anyone needed was predators catching the scent of blood. The last thing _he _needed was to faint or vomit from seeing all of it.

"Alright!" he shouted, moving past the driver and into the coach. He saw a sea of frightened faces staring back at him, half of which all had their phones pressed to their ears. "Right, anyone here speak English?" He scowled as only two people lifted their arms. "_Nihongo o hanashite kudasai?_" he tried instead. Those that did not have their phones pressed to their ears answered him, lifting their arms.

_Brilliant,_ he thought, sourly. If he guessed right, they had about twenty minutes before the first ranger would be able to respond. That meant twenty minutes of calming people in a language he felt painfully uncertain in, whilst also trying to make sure nothing scented injured pokémon and came looking for an easy meal.

His grandmother had always warned him that learning to speak Japanese would benefit him in the long term. As she always was, it appeared that she was also right about this. Sighing, he wished that he had listened to her more when she was alive.

Like everything else, Gary wondered why he only ever realised these things too late.

Ash sighed. His back ached from where he had sat hunched over from so long. His legs were beginning to lose feeling from Pikachu having sat in the perfect position to cut off blood flow. He watched the local pidgey soar from tree to tree, feeling the boredom well and truly set in.

"They said they wouldn't be gone long," he complained. The campsite remained silent, providing him with no answer. Pikachu opened an eye at his voice, yawned and returned back to sleep. Ash had tried looking through his pokédex to see if it had any decent information, following the leads Misty and Gary had given him. It had plenty of information, which was half the problem in itself; Ash had no idea what to do with all of it.

"How am I meant to be a pokémon master if I can't even understand a couple of description pages?" he whined. Reading information for pikachu as a species had left his mind feeling like he had spent too long on a merry go round. There was just so much information. Maybe he would learn how to use it properly, in time. The problem he was finding was that the more he found out, the less he felt prepared to do anything.

"I need to get stronger if I want to beat Gary," he said aloud. Glancing down at Pikachu, he amended, "_we_ need to get stronger." He knew they needed to train. He also knew they needed more pokémon. On top of that, he needed strategies, to teach them commands, to know more about pokémon himself…

"Who knew this would be so complicated, huh buddy?" he asked, scratching Pikachu's head. His pokémon cooed in answer, content with being spoiled.

Ash sighed as he leaned back, resting on his elbows. He let his gaze wander over the trees, wondering just how many spearow were in there now, watching them. Did they all know about what happened outside Pallet? What if he had been marked by them? One stupid decision, one little rock and suddenly, everything had almost come to an end.

_Almost, but not quite_. Ash thought back to the pokémon that had appeared with the rainbow, seeming to be nothing more than a mirage. Even now, he could not be certain if the feather he had found was related. The feeling of hope, of awe, of inspiration was still there though, even when he simply thought about the pokémon.

He scanned the treeline again, stopping when he saw a flash of what appeared to be _gold_. He focused on the pokémon, squinting at the tree in the distance. Though he needed to be closer to be certain, Ash was sure there was a hoothoot staring back at him, watching him without blinking.

Ash turned, trying to think nothing of it. Hoothoot were nocturnal pokémon after all, so it was more than likely it was just sleeping. With its eyes open. Whilst making hooting noises.

Glancing back, he saw the pokémon had moved closer. Ash moved his legs a little, disturbing Pikachu. He placed a hand on the pokémon's back as he moved his legs, rubbing circles in Pikachu's fur. "There's a pokémon watching us," Ash whispered. Pikachu's ears darted up like antenna, alert instantly. "It's a hoothoot."

Ash felt his pikachu relax, just slightly. After their previous events, mentioning spearow to his pokémon made the pikachu tense and search for any of the birds to attack. To a lesser degree, the pokémon also was on edge at any mention of a koffing, ekans or meowth. Ash thought briefly to the two people that claimed to be Team Rocket, wondering if what Misty said was right.

As he came back to reality, he saw the hoothoot had moved to the tree closest to him - almost perfectly above Misty's tent. Ash looked at the pokémon, surprised by how thin it was. As the sunlight trickled through the leaves above, the pokémon's feathers seemed to shine gold. _No wonder it looks so thin_, Ash thought. _If any light catches it does that, it must have a hard time hunting_.

"Hey hoothoot!" he yelled, waving his hand. The pokémon fluttered, leaping from the branch it stood and climbing higher in the tree. Not one to be distracted so easily, Ash grabbed a handful of pokémon food and placed it in a pile on the other side of the campfire to himself. He had to keep a hold on Pikachu to make sure the pokémon didn't scare off the hoothoot - or descend on the food himself.

"Help yourself!" Ash declared. "I've got plenty and you look like you need some."

Backing up, Ash kept his gaze on the pokémon. The hoothoot descended back down to its original branch, hopping between legs as it looked between Ash and the pile of food. Ash smiled to himself, trying to ignore the way his palms seemed to be getting sweatier and sweatier. He and Gary had always argued about the ways to catch pokémon - Gary had claimed that you had to battle to prove yourself, yet Ash had always thought that showing a pokémon you were a friend was better. Beating them to catch them just seemed akin to controlling them through fear. As far as Ash was concerned, he would rather have a pokémon disobey him because he was being an idiot, rather than blindly following his orders because they were afraid of him.

"That's right," Ash said, watching the hoothoot come down from the tree. It stopped at the base of the trunk, still hopping from foot to foot. Each time it did so, it would retract one foot into its body, as if it could only keep out one at a time. Ash would have believed it had only one foot, had he not seen a brief glimpse of one emerging whilst the other was retracting.

"Little further," he coaxed. He felt Pikachu tense in his lap and Ash smiled. Obviously his pokémon knew what was happening. He knew that they would be getting a new teammate and -

A brown blur raced at the pile of food, swiping it with a screech.

"_Hey_!" Ash screamed, startling the hoothoot, frightening it into flying away. His heart sunk as he saw the pokémon disappear back into the trees. His hands shaking with anger, he spun around and found the pokémon responsible for everything. It shrieked from the tree it hung in by its tail, making a sound suspiciously like a laugh as it tossed pellets of food into its mouth. Its cream fur contrasted its brown tail and paws, though its blood-red eyes remained focused on Ash, even as it continued to eat the pile of food it had stolen.

"Just what's the big idea?" Ash cried. The pokémon swung its tail, launching itself into the air. It snatched an apple from the tree and mid-air, spun and threw it at Ash.

Screaming, Ash threw himself at the floor. He felt something pass over him and glanced upwards. Pikachu had leaped up to catch the apple, snarling as he batted it away, his cheeks sparking. The mankey pointed at them both, hopping from foot to foot as it continued to laugh.

"Oh yeah?" Ash growled. "Pikachu, stun this thief!"

Pikachu growled as he raced forwards, cheeks discharging static. The mankey hooted as it danced backwards, flipping around bolts of electricity. It shrieked as one caught it in the base of its foot, sparking its way up the pokémon's leg. It landed awkwardly, unable to put any weight on the limb. With a snarl it scooped mud into its paws and shrieked as it began to barrage Pikachu with it.

"Dodge!" Ash cried, leaping to his feet to avoid the mud that missed his pokémon. Pikachu raced in a circle around the mankey, blasting any mud that came too close with shocks of electricity. The mankey, angry at its paralyzed leg, began to holler as it bounced up and down.

"Quick attack!" Ash cried. Pikachu raced forwards in a blur, smashing his skull into the mankey's nose. The pokémon screeched, slapping its paws over its bleeding nose. As it recoiled backwards, Pikachu spun around and shocked it, point blank. Ash saw the mankey's fur singe before his eyes. Unwilling to let it suffer, he tossed a poké ball at it and hit it square between the eyes.

He clenched his fists as the ball dropped to the ground and began to shake. He counted out the painfully long seconds as the ball struggled to contain the mankey.

Finally it stilled.

"Alright!" Ash cheered, racing foward. He scooped the ball and Pikachu up from the ground, laughing as he spun around. "We did it! We caught our first pokémon!"

Ash grinned as Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder, rubbing his cheek affectionately against Ash's face. He tucked the poké ball onto his belt, wondering what to do with the mankey. It felt like one small step towards actually achieving his dream - and a massive _told you so_ to Gary.

"Maybe we should give it a name," Ash wondered aloud. He walked slowly back to the campsite, frowning at the remains of the pokémon food he left for the hoothoot. Whilst he was still happy he had caught something - and he could not _wait _to see Misty's face when he showed her - he still would have wanted to have caught the bird. He could remember dreaming about flying on the back of a flying pokémon since he was tiny, able to see the world from the sky, to travel among the clouds, to reach out and touch them, to see if they were really made of candy floss, like Gary had always claimed.

He stopped at the sound of a pokémon behind him. Fearing the worst, he spun around on the spot, only to find the very same hoothoot from before, looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Uh, hey," Ash said, staring right back at the pokémon. It said nothing as it continued to hop from foot to foot, the wind ruffling its golden feathers. It took Pikachu reaching over and pinching Ash's cheek for his brain to connect all the dots. "You're hungry!" he cried, racing back for his bag.

He reached in and took a handful of food pellets, leaving them in a small pile between him and the hoothoot. Trilling, the pokémon fluttered forwards and began to peck at the food, taking small bites. Ash noticed that the remains of the first pile of food he had left out had vanished. Either the local rattata had scurried out and claimed it when he was distracted, or the hoothoot had tried some and found it to its liking.

Ash went with the latter idea when the hoothoot looked up and clicked its beak together in what Ash assumed was a _thank you_.

"Hey, no worries," Ash said, waving his hand. "You look like you could do with some food." He smiled at the pokémon as he turned and moved back to his tent, making certain to sit so that he was not facing the pokémon directly. "I've got plenty more of that," he mentioned as he pulled out his pokedex and began to scroll through the information on mankey. According to the pokédex, raising fighting types was a matter of establishing dominance. Ash grit his teeth at the thought of having to admit Gary was right about something. Even the thought of it left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Pikachu jumped down to the ground and buried himself in Ash's lap once more, though Ash could see his pokémon was watching the hoothoot from the corner of his eye, much as Ash was. He saw the bird looking at them between bites, seemingly evaluating them both.

Ash shrugged, returning back to the pokédex. Sure, Gary and Misty had explained to him the whole catching one pokémon per location thing. The way Ash saw it, however, was that if a pokémon sought you out, then clearly it wanted to be captured. It would be a different matter entirely if he were to be hunting pokémon and catching everything he saw.

With a shrug to himself, Ash turned his attention back to his pokédex. He managed to read a little about the usual temperament of a mankey before Pikachu prodded his leg, drawing his attention. Ash looked up to see the hoothoot stood in front of them, its head tilted curiously at them.

"Hey little fella," Ash said, returning the pokédex to his pocket. He glanced up to see all the food pellets had gone. "Feeling better now?"

Instead of answering, the hoothoot continued to watch him, wide-eyed, unblinking.

"Well, like I said," Ash said, unperturbed, "there's plenty more where that came from." He plucked an empty ball from his belt and held it out for the pokémon to see. "If I catch you in one of these, you become one of my partners like Pikachu here. I;ll help you become big and strong, and you'll never have to worry about being hungry again. What do you say?"

The hoothoot bounced forwards and pressed its beak against the ball. As it vanished in a flash of light, Ash smiled to himself. He _told_ Gary that befriending pokémon was a valid way of catching them.

**-0-0-0-**

Wallace swore as the acid began to eat through his gloves. He removed them as quickly as he could, cursing everything as his ludicolo doused his hand in water.

Ahead he saw Steven battling the crobat. Three of them had descended out of nowhere. Steven's skarmory screeched, its wings spread as it stood between them and its trainer. The poison was beginning to wear through the skarmory's feathers, eating its way through their defences.

Steel was meant to be immune to poison. Everything Wallace knew seemed to be unravelling before his eyes. His jellicent wailed as it emerged from the darkness, ensnaring a screaming crobat. Wallace flinched at the sounds the pokémon's bones made as his jellicent consumed it.

A cackle echoed from the darkness. For every pokémon they seemed to defeat, another took its place. He threw himself to the floor as the mismagius descended from the shadows, tendrils of darkness reaching out like nightmarish vines. His ludicolo froze all that approached, dancing around the attacks to a beat that only he could hear.

"Steven!" Wallace shouted, pushing himself to his feet. Steven's head was cut, bleeding. He was hiding behind his bronzong. The pokémon grunted as it continued to bare the brunt of the crobat attacks, slowly recovering what injuries it could.

Knife in hand, Wallace slashed at one of the bats. It avoided it with ease, shrieking as it snapped at him. Wallace twisted out of the way, throwing himself to the floor, landing beside Steven. He saw first hand how bad the damage had gotten. Steven had always been hard as steel, impossible to break. Apparently even that had its limits. Wallace could tell that his arm was broken, that his nose and jaw were likely the same. The skin around his eyes was already yellow, bruised.

"They're impossibly strong," Steven whispered, glancing out from behind his bronzong. Their eyes met and for the first time since they were children, Wallace saw _fear _in Steven's face. "Cynthia was right. Something's happening. We need to get help."

"Well come on then," Wallace snapped, clutching the knife tightly. "Let's go!"

"You go," Steven said. "My metagross is too large to use in here. So is your milotic. You're the only one with a teleporter small enough to use in these confines. Go. Get help."

"And leave you here?" Wallace snorted. "Fat chance. We're in this together, remember?"

"_Wally_," Steven hissed, grabbing his chin. "The pokémon here are extremely powerful. We've traced records of the giant here. You know these things are connected. People have to be warned."

Wallace glanced over his shoulder. His ludicolo growled as the mismagius vanished into the shadows once again. His jellicent emerged from the floor, snatching another crobat from the air. Another raced at them, trying to save its comrade. Steven's skarmory hissed, reaching noise levels that drove the bats around her into spasms. For the first time, Wallace felt like they were beginning to win.

He _felt_ the rumbling in the walls before the temperature dropped. The wild pokémon stopped attacking. They turned and fled. Wallace watched as the crobats flew back into the darkness of the caves. The mismagius raced back into the shadows, disappearing. Their pokémon closed in around them, forming a protective ring.

By the paltry light from bronzong, Wallace saw tentacles of inky black shadow reach out to the dead pokémon around them. The darkness _consumed _their bodies. He heard the sounds of their flesh _ripping _from their bones, like it was being _digested _in front of him. The twilight gloom began to grow, to gain shape. For each of their defeated foes, the monster in the dark grew larger. Ethereal darkness loomed above them, like a snake made of shadow.

Two piercing red eyes opened.

"_Giratina_," Steven whispered. Wallace looked at him in horror. His very skin felt like it could crawl off and run. His teeth felt like they were vibrating. The primal fear he felt made his entire body want to race off in every possible direction at once.

They recalled their pokémon. The shadow demon _howled_.

Wallace's slowking appeared in a flash of light. The shadows _hissed _at them. Grabbing Steven's hand, Wallace grabbed his pokémon and willed it to teleport them anywhere other than there, in those caves.

As the world around them disappeared into a bright, shining light, Wallace was certain he heard a voice.

_I̥̭͚̩̹̓̑͑̚'̩͚̜̟̼ͯ̉m͚̟͂̃ ̫̟̼̊̈́̔ͯc̰̗̱͔̝͇̰ͩ͆͗o̬̫͙̐̃̏͋̏m̻̫̲͇͖̪̩̐̓ͭͧͣ̈ͩ̽̆i͍̱͇̦͖͖͈̋̎ͫ͛n͖̦͗g̟̘̻̭̦̮̫̘ͧ̍̑ͣ̉ ̗͓͔̲̻̩̹̻ͭ͗̽ͬ̐̊̈́f̙̘͍͇̗̟ͯ̋͂̇̅̑ͅo̹̝̤̝̟͈̜̓͆́̋̌ṟ͌̓ ̜̻̺̅͗̍̒̉ͩ̓̒̚ý̤̭͙̙͈͉͎̀̂̔ͣ̋ò͉̝̦̹̈́͐u̙̥̪̖̻̟̮͙ͯ̓͗ͩ̈́.̰͖̻̬ͧͧ̆̚_


	3. Rivals - II

The ponyta was being healed. Ash and Gary would be on their way back from their impromptu camp site. With no other real ideas of what to do with her time, Misty had decided to put her money where her mouth was and actually start _doing_ rather than spending her time thinking.

She broke the water's surface and inhaled greedily. Her lungs felt like they were burning. The weights on her arms and legs felt like they were trapping her, bringing her further down into the depths. Her heart was racing as she pulled herself to the side of the pool and groaned. She rested her forehead against the cool, blue tiles of the poolside floor and began to laugh between gasps for air.

"Six minutes," she said, still gasping. It was good - _amazing _compared to most people. The world record was over twenty minutes - she wanted _at least _half of that. Her arms shook as her muscles adjusted to relaxing once again. She took the weights off and let them _thump_ against the tiled floor next to her. Perhaps swimming underwater lengths whilst holding her breath was too much, she reflected. Pushing away from the side of the pool, she continued to tread water and embraced the quiet, letting her mind run riot with ideas that she would probably never have the time to complete.

She wanted to learn to fight. Maybe getting a fighting pokémon would help in that endeavour. But then, she would need to train that and learn the best method for raising one of those, in addition to the pokémon she already had. She twirled in the water before relaxing and floating atop the water's surface. Since she had left Cerulean she had put off swimming for the longest time, afraid that the smell of chlorine would give her flashbacks to home and leave her a miserable mess.

The truth was that yes, whilst she found herself thinking of home the instant she smelt the pool water, her thoughts faded away the moment she began to swim again. She had forgotten just how much she _loved _being in the water. She could push herself to her limits whilst swimming alongside her pokémon in their natural element.

Closing her eyes, she thought about how she could make herself stronger. Every idea she came up was related to her physical strength, annoying her further. She needed something that would put her on the levels of the Elites. Her pokémon could become as strong, if not stronger. She knew she would need to be smart - smarter, perhaps, than anyone she knew.

She opened her eyes as something bumped into her hand. She smiled upon seeing her poliwag and ran her fingers over the pokémon's skin, noting the stumps forming on its side. It was one of the signs evolution was coming closer. The arm bones of a poliwhirl were forming already. It had to be painful, which was why Misty was slowing down training with her poliwag, to give her room to grow.

"Hey Willow," she said. She ran her fingertips along the pokémon's head, rubbing the spot above her eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'm just planning, thinking really. We all need to train and get stronger. I'm just trying to work out the best way to do that."

Her poliwag trilled as she began to tread water alongside Misty. Taking that as a confirmation of a good idea, Misty continued, "It'll be hard, really tough. But we'll pull through. You're strong, all of you."

She looked up at the splashing sounds coming from her other pokémon. Cutting through the water's surface, her totodile chased after the training floats that had been left in the pool when they arrived. Misty watched as her pokémon snuck after them, treating them much like it would live prey. Her pokémon approached slowly, methodically and when it was close enough, struck, pulling the float underwater, spinning quickly as it did so.

Misty felt her eyebrows raise, unable to deny the fact that she was impressed. She could remember the little thing as a newborn who was so noisy and loud that she was certain he would never manage to stealthily take down an enemy. Sure, it was only a harmless floatation device, but he was clearly eager to learn.

Like all totodile, he was slow to grow, though she could see his scales beginning to turn just a shade lighter. She would have to focus on all the speed training she could whilst he was still young, to get him ready for the next stage. She knew that once he was a croconaw, she could begin truly training his strength and push him further than before. The more she had his respect now and when he became a croconaw, the less trouble she would have when he would become a feraligatr over three times her size.

"Quill," Misty called. Her totodile glanced over her way, his yellow eyes blinking horizontally. He sped through the water without a sound, reaching Misty in the time it took her to blink. He bumped his snout against her hip, smiling in such a way that Misty saw he had lost another tooth. "Did you hear what I told Willow?"

In response, Quill rolled over onto his back and made a small, gurgling sound of demand. Misty sighed as she reached out and scratched his scaled stomach. "You're spoiled as hell," she accused. His scales, whilst not as sharp as a sharpedo's, were still rough to the touch. Misty placed her free hand on Willow's head and marvelled at the differences between them. They were her newest pokémon, the ones still yet to evolve and possibly with the most potential. As a feraligatr, Misty knew that Quill would easily be the powerhouse of her team. She would have to train him with Acacia, to get him used to dealing with long-ranged attackers. Meanwhile she could also have Acacia help Willow with other attacks. Starmie were natural psychics, after all. Misty knew that the poliwag species had some latent psychic potential, but had put off the thought of training those abilities for some time. It was her father that had helped with her starmie's abilities. She could remember the nights that her and Acacia, still a staryu at the time, had stayed up training with her father and his slowbro.

"So much to do," she groused. She could do all of it, eventually, but she had no clue how long it would take to complete. When she had told Gary that it would take ages for their plan to succeed she already knew it would be a matter of years, though she hoped they could achieve something before they transitioned into decades.

Glancing up, she saw the time displayed on the neon red wall clock and sighed, pulling herself from the water. The quiet hour that she had paid for in the pokémon centre training was quickly coming to its end. Groaning, she pulled herself out of the pool and made her way back to the changing room, letting her pokémon continue to enjoy the time in the water. She changed quickly into a red tank top and a pair of pale yellow, almost beige chinos. She had learnt from experience not to wear flip flops around Quill - the slapping sound they made against her feet was apparently very similar to the sounds a drowning pokémon would make as it slapped against the water, or at least that was the explanation Violet had used when it had first happened. Even if Misty thought the explanation was a bit odd, she was still going to take the advice from her sister - she did, after all, own the feraligatr that birthed Misty's own totodile.

She slid on a pair of black running shoes and made her way back to the pool, smiling at the sight of her pokémon playing. She snapped a picture of them both on her phone before recalling the pair and making her way back to the pokémon centre's reception area.

Misty breezed through the reception, barely passing a glance at the small gatherings of trainers that were sat on the pink couches, watching the news on the television. Viridian's gym, unlike all the others in the Kanto circuit, held the attraction that the leader would not face any trainer with less than seven badges. Usually most leaders would have teams specially for weaker trainers, however, Giovanni had a track record that rivalled even Lieutenant Surge's - even his weak pokémon had annihilated teams of trainer pokémon. Being the gym closest to the League, Giovanni had been given permission to only battle trainers of a certain strength.

Though it meant on average Giovanni battled far less trainers than the rest of the Kanto gym leaders, he was also the first responder for any emergencies concerning Mount Silver and the surrounding networks.

"Hey, Karen," Misty said, smiling at the woman working reception. She was young, barely out of her teenage years, with scars across her arms Misty knew from experience came from training pokémon. "How's that ponyta that I dropped off doing?"

Karen's smile seemed to falter at the mention of the pokémon. She made a show of undoing and re-tying her long, brown hair in a ponytail, before sliding a pen behind her ear. "Better, but well…" she glanced at the computer screen and spun the monitor around so Misty could see. "We're reaching the limits of what we can do here. The best bet for it would be going to the fire pokémon unit in Cinnabar but as it stands, this is the bill so far."

Misty's eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the number on the screen. Sure, she had known that she would have to pay for the treatment - Ash only got his pokémon healed for free because the pokédex was his '_sponsored by Professor Oak' _insurance card. Paying _that much _though?

She felt horrible for considering letting the ponyta die, just so her bank balance would remain alive.

"Excuse me."

Misty jumped at the voice behind her. She spun, one hand on her thundering heart, another around Ren's poké ball, ready to unleash her crawdaunt on whoever it was. She stopped when she noticed the bright blue hair, the tanned skin and the bleached-teeth smile of Wallace Waterflower.

"Wallace?" she gasped, nearly dropping her poké ball. He looked like he needed sleep. Rather than his usual form-fitted, designed costume, he was wearing a dark blue blazer and jeans. His hands were scratched from what Misty assumed were pokémon claws - though she could not say she was certain what could have caused them.

"Little Misty, it really is you," he said, hugging her. She hugged him back, still too stunned for her brain to actually work. "I thought it may have been you when I saw you had booked out the pool for an hour. How fortuitous that I saw you here." He released her, smiling as she replaced the poké ball back onto her belt. "I didn't overhear much, but from what I gather, your pokémon needs specialist treatment?"

"It's not technically my pokémon," Misty admitted. "It was hit by a coach and really badly hurt, so I caught it to keep it alive and had my starmie teleport us here so I could get it healed. My friends should be headed back here soon, so I thought I could wait here to see how badly the pokémon was hurt."

"Badly," Karen answered, startling Misty. She had forgotten that she was even stood in front of the reception desk, letting everyone overhear her. "Both front legs were broken, there was internal bruising, broken ribs and possibly a concussion. It needs to be sent to the unit in Cinnabar if it wants to recover properly - they can heal it and start the physio treatment it will need."

"How well fate has aligned," Wallace said, reaching for his wallet. "What is family for?"

"Wait, what?" Misty said, stunned. "Wallace, you don't have to! I mean, I wouldn't expect you to-"

"Nonsense," he said, talking over her. "Think nothing of it." He plucked a card out of his wallet and handed it over to the receptionist. "Make the payment against that account, if you please."

"Do you want to see how much the balance is?"

"No need, I can pay."

Misty watched the exchange with wide eyes. Her brain felt like it was wading through tar as she attempted to catch up with the conversation. Even when everything was sorted and she was emailed all the details to do with the ponyta's treatment, she felt like she was watching the world from an outsider's perspective.

"Now, come, come," Wallace said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We should talk, catch up."

"Uh, sure," Misty said. She felt like there was something _off _about it, but she had no clue what. Maybe her sisters had bumped into him and told him to watch out for her, but this felt different.

When he guided her out of the pokémon centre and she saw Steven Stone waiting on a bench in the street, she _knew _something was up.

"Okay, _what's _going on?" she demanded, slapping Wallace's hand away. She saw Steven stand and begin to move towards them and tried to pretend like she was not about to freak the hell out. "This is all _way _too much, way too quick!" She scowled at Wallace, annoyed when he made no reaction. "I _seriously _doubt you just _happened _to overhear my conversation with the receptionist. I really don't think that it's fate or happenstance or _whatever _that brought us together here." She glared at Steven as he stopped before them. Dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a bright red tie, he seemed more akin to a businessman about to close a deal than Hoenn's strongest trainer. Lily's _many_ lectures about makeup let her identify the foundation he was wearing to conceal the beginnings of two black eyes.

It left her with more questions that she was not afraid to ask.

"And _you_," Misty growled, turning to him, "what part have you got to play in all of this?"

He smiled at her in response. Everything about him was cold. Though his face bore a smile, his eyes remained distant, calculating. "I have to admit, Wallace, I had my doubts previously. Now I'm beginning to think this idea may have some merit to it."

"_What_ _idea_?" Misty shouted. "I _swear_ to whatever god you believe in, if you don't tell me what's going on right now I will beat you myself."

"Misty," Wallace said, his voice calm, "please, take a breath. You're right, we do have more at work here. Myself and Steven are on our way to visit Giovanni. When we dropped our pokémon off at the centre to heal, I did see your name booked for the pool, that I did not lie about. I told Steven we should bring you with us."

"Then _why_," she hissed, through gritted teeth, "did you have to be all _creepy _about it? You could have just said something."

"There's unrest in Mount Silver," Steven said. Misty noticed the way his eyes darted around the street, as if making sure that no one would come close enough to hear their conversation. "Whatever it was in there, the two of us were not enough to take it on."

Misty felt her blood run cold. The thought of the monsters in Mount Silver were bad enough - she had grown up on the horror stories of Cerulean Cave and the fiends that dwelled within. To know that even they struggled with whatever they faced?

"What can I do to help?" she asked. "I'm not anybody."

"You're my cousin," Wallace told her. "Well, third cousin maybe?" He looked over to Steven. "Our grandmothers were cousins. What does that make us?"

"Related." Steven answered. He looked at Misty. "We know that your gym is no longer under your control. You're right - there isn't much you can do to help, not in the manner you may think. Come with us to meet Giovanni."

"I'm not sure what's going on here, but fine," Misty said. "In return though I want you both to tell me what I can do to become an Elite. I want to be stronger than a gym leader, able to do more to help people. I know there's no one method to do it, but I know I need help in doing so."

Though she addressed her request to them both, she made certain to look at Steven as she spoke. She knew that he was the one who had surpassed Elite level, he would know more of the game she would have to play.

Still, as they agreed and she followed them to the Viridian gym, she had to wonder what she was signing herself up for.

**-0-0-0-**

Despite it being the middle of the day, the pokémon centre was unnervingly empty. The nurse that Ash had previously rescued from Team Rocket was nowhere to be found. He had tried asking the other staff on duty, but had been met with answers that they were unable to give away personal information unless he was a known family member.

It _sucked_, because he still felt like he needed the confirmation that what he had experienced had actually happened.

Upon arriving at the pokémon centre, the nurse at the reception desk had informed him that yes, Misty had arrived with a badly injured ponyta and that she had also booked them all a room for the night. The thought of actually getting to sleep in a bed _almost _made up for thinking everyone had abandoned him, out there in the mountains.

Not knowing where either Misty or Gary were, but taking comfort in the fact that they were all sharing a room meaning they had no intentions of abandoning him, Ash had decided to book himself into one of the training suites the pokémon centre had on offer.

The room he sat in was only as large as one of Professor Oak's lecture halls in his lab. A rough battlefield had been marked out in white paint on the sandy floor. Rather than diving in, as he so wanted to, Ash was sat on the ground, leaning his back against the door and attempting to work out what to do first.

Pikachu cooed from his position on Ash's lap, nudging the pokédex with his head. Ash smiled as he pocketed Gary's handwritten note that had been his notice about what was happening. It was so… _Gary _to have Shadow deliver a handwritten note keeping him in the loop but also complaining about Ash's lack of a phone.

Belatedly, Ash had realised that the pokédex could also function as one. The more he played with it, the more he saw similarities between it and his mother's smartphone.

"I guess I should make sure I know what it can do, huh Pikachu?" he muttered, not quite expecting an answer. "It sure would have been helpful if Professor Oak had given me an instruction manual. Or a helpbook."

In response to his voice, his pokédex's screen lit up, presenting him with a built-in help page. Ash stared at it for a long moment, split between surprise and awe. As much as he wanted to play with it, he was honestly too exhausted to try. He knew that the moment he started reading too much, he would fall asleep.

"Well, I guess this part was never really my strong suit anyway," Ash said as he pocketed the device. He pulled free a remote control that the nurse had given him and pointed it towards the other side of the battlefield. "So what do you think, Pikachu? Shall we see what our new teammates can do?"

He pressed the large blue button on the control and felt his heart leap out of his chest when the other side of the room _screeched_ and a rhydon-shaped statue made of dirt _burst_ free of the ground.

Pikachu jumped about a foot in the air and landed roughly, cheeks sparking as he rolled back onto his feet.

"It's just the training dummy," Ash said, holding a hand over his thundering heart. "Jeez, you'd think they'd warn people about this."

Turning the control, he saw that there was a label affixed, warning trainers of the dangers of activating it around unprepared pokémon.

"Well, they could make it more obvious," he grumbled as he pocketed the device. "Well, the nurse looked at our new friends and said they're good to go, so how about we properly introduce ourselves?"

He smiled as he ran a thumb over the two new poké balls on his belt. After Shadow had delivered the note and raced back off to return to Gary, Ash had packed away the camp and raced to the pokémon centre without a second thought. Now he had a moment to actually let his brain catch up, he found it impossible to contain his glee at catching new pokémon.

Pikachu grumbled at him, annoyed at how long Ash was taking. "Sorry," Ash said with a laugh. He took a poké ball from his belt and called forth the hoothoot with a flourish.

The pokémon appeared on the ground before them, blinking its wide eyes slowly.

"Hey!" Ash said as he bent down. "So we're officially team mates now! I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu!"

The hoothoot continued to watch them silently.

"Right," Ash said slowly, wondering what he was missing when Pikachu covered his mouth with his paws and began to chuckle. "Anyway, you saw that I also caught that mankey that stole some food I wanted you to have. So I'm going to call him out next and then we can all introduce ourselves properly!"

The hoothoot answered with silence and a blink of its eyes.

"Uh…" Ash struggled to understand just _what_ that meant. Pikachu looked between them again and unable to contain it any further, collapsed on the ground in laughter. Ash put his hands out and gestured to the hoothoot. "I guess, uh, if you understand me, peck this hand," he said, lifting his left, "and if not, peck this one," he said, lifting his right.

The hoothoot turned its head slowly to the left. Ash felt a smile grow on his face. Then the hoothoot turned its head around and nipped his right fingers.

"_Ow_," Ash said, snatching his hand back. "I guess you don't understand, huh?"

The hoothoot gave him a look that reminded him _perfectly_ of Gary whenever Ash had said something stupid. Pikachu was chuckling as he walked over to the hoothoot and muttered something to it.

The hoothoot answered with a click of its beak. Whatever it said was enough to make Pikachu laugh again.

Belatedly, Ash caught up. "_Oh_," he said. "If you didn't understand you wouldn't have known to peck that hand, huh?"

Pikachu, still laughing, nodded. The hoothoot spun on the spot. Ash took it as a good sign.

"Right," he said. "Anyway, I guess next is the mankey."

He called forth the pokémon before remembering just how _angry_ the pokémon was before he caught it.

As the light formed into the shape of his pokémon, Ash cringed. He waiting for the shrieking to start.

Instead he was met by silence, and an oddly calm pokémon. The mankey walked forwards slowly, its large knuckles leaving heavy imprints on the ground.

Pikachu stopped laughing as the mankey sat down next to it and locked its feet together, much like people would rest their hands in each other.

"Well," Ash said, "I wasn't expecting that." He pulled free his pokédex and glanced at it quickly as he tried to see what it recommended for ways to train the pokémon.

He looked up as a shadow fell over him. He looked up into the mankey's red, curious eyes and followed where it was looking. Ash pressed a button on the pokédex and advanced the page. The mankey's eyes widened and it hooted, pointing at the screen.

"This tells me all about all three of you," Ash told it. The mankey looked at him with large eyes and reached slowly for the pokédex.

The hoothoot bounced forwards, beak clicking. The mankey stopped moving and looked between it and Ash, almost appearing to frown.

"I don't think you'd be able to use it," Ash said with a chuckle. Pikachu moved closer to him, not quite standing between him and the pokémon, but Ash could tell Pikachu was ready to jump in if he was needed. "I don't think you can read."

To that, the mankey hooted and made a series of wild gestures at the pokédex. Ash was lost, even more so when the hoothoot bounced over, pecked the pokédex, then turned to Pikachu and began to chirp softly.

"You… want to learn how to use it?" Ash guessed. The mankey almost seemed to cheer as it bounced up and down on the spot. Ash recalled the meowth that formed part of Team Rocket. If one pokémon could walk and talk, who was to say that other pokémon were unable to do the same? "Well, I don't see why not! We'll go over your moves now and I'll go get stuff to help to teach you how to read and write!"

Ash chuckled as the mankey hollered and bounced towards the rhydon statue. His hoothoot took to the sky and fluttered around him, whilst Pikachu looked up at him with a wide smile and almost seemed to give him a thumbs up.

Ash grinned back at him. Regardless of what Misty and Gary said, he had this training thing _down_.

**-0-0-0-**

In stark contrast to her own experiences with her family's gym, the Viridian gym seemed strangely devoid of challengers. Rather than having an actual person manning the reception desk, Giovanni had an automated system to check a trainer's pokédex and assign slots for gym battles.

Wallace and Steven breezed through the gym's reception area and made their way towards the battlefield. Misty followed along behind them, trying not to marvel at the sights of the gym. She had never managed to venture into Viridian's gym before. Much like how her own had revolved around water, Giovanni's had been made with his pokémon in mind. Instead of tiled floors, the ground itself was left untouched, leaving the dirt beneath exposed. Misty traced her fingers along the pale white walls, noting how much they felt like sandpaper.

Glancing through the windows, she saw that Giovanni was already in the battlefield, battling a trainer no older than her. She flinched as an attack hit the safety field with enough force to make it appear before her eyes, glowing ethereal blue. She watched it buckle underneath the strain, almost seeming to _crack_, before it rebuilt itself, fixing in an instant.

"This should be entertaining," Wallace said, smirking as he pushed open the double doors to the battlefield. Instantly Misty felt the air change. All the moisture seemed to have been sucked out of the air. She felt her eyeballs almost shrivel and dry in a moment. She wiped her face and found that her fingertips came away covered in small, sharp grains of sand.

"I so rarely get to enjoy battles that aren't on a water field," Wallace continued, as if the change in surroundings failed to bother him.

"Aside from almost all the battling we do that doesn't involve your gym," Steven said, rolling his eyes.

Misty fought the urge to sigh and instead ignored them both. She saw Giovanni stood on one side of the field, _in front _of the safety field. His demeanour was beyond calm, almost _bored_. Fighting for him was one of the largest cubone that Misty had ever seen, standing almost up to Giovanni's waist. It spun a bone in its hands that seemed less like it came from a pokémon and more like it came from a fully grown adult human.

The trainer fighting opposite had the sense to stand behind the safety field. His hair was long, to his shoulders, and the darkest shade of red she had seen. It reminded her almost of blood. He dressed in a black shirt and slacks that seemed too large for him, as if he had dressed in his father's clothes.

Before him was a sneasel, crouched on all fours, panting for breath. The long feather that crested its head was torn and it was favouring one leg.

"Hunter!" the boy cried. "Keep your distance and freeze it!"

Misty _felt _the temperature drop as the sneasel's mouth grew cold. She saw the air around it begin to frost with each breath it took. Crystals of ice appeared on its teeth before it fired a beam of condensed cold at the cubone.

Without a word from Giovanni, the cubone spun its bone club and _breathed fire _over it. Spinning the whirling vortex of fire, the cubone directed the heat at the encroaching cold, leaving it nothing more than a hissing steam. With a cry the cubone threw its flaming weapon at the sneasel.

Dodging, the sneasel ran on all fours, keeping distance between them. The cubone leaped into the air, snatching its returning boomerang. It growled as it spun its weapon in mid air and brought it down on the ground with enough force to create a shockwave that made Misty stumble back a step. She felt the ground rumble. Her teeth felt like they were vibrating.

She felt her jaw drop as pillars of stone _erupted _from the ground. The sneasel tried to dodge, leaping from pillar to pillar. As it touched them they broke apart, showering the ground in sharp, pointed stones.

With nowhere safe left to jump to, the sneasel perched on the last, unbroken pillar of stone. The cubone growled as it drove its weapon back into the ground. Misty stumbled and fell. The pillar shattered, collapsing beneath the sneasel. As the sneasel hit the floor, the remaining rubble moved, circling it. Misty watched in amazement as the fallen stones followed the cubone's movements, trapping the sneasel within.

The cubone flicked its weapon. A rock, no bigger than Misty's fist hurtled at the sneasel. It struck, impacting on its leg with enough force to make Misty flinch. It flicked its weapon again. Another rock, this one twice the size smacked against the sneasel's back. It cried out, landing on the floor heavily.

Growling, it struggled to get back to its feet. Its trainer cried out, urging it to fight. Another rock thudded against the pokémon's stomach, winding it.

"Withdraw," Giovanni said, his tone devoid of emotion. "Do not continue to make your pokémon suffer."

The challenger snarled, his fists shaking in rage. As another rock smacked into his pokémon's chest. Baring his teeth, he recalled his pokémon, snarling as he did so.

"This is why I do not battle unprepared trainers," Giovanni said, recalling his own pokémon. "That cubone is one of my weakest pokémon. I expected better of you."

"Screw you!" the trainer shouted, storming out of the battleground. As he made his way towards them, Misty looked at him, opened her mouth to say something to reassure him. Instead, he growled as he shoved her backwards, out of his way. "_Get lost_," he hissed, marching out of the battleground.

"_Rude_," Misty said, scowling in his direction. She nodded as Wallace checked if she was alright, waving off his concerns.

"Welcome," Giovanni said as he approached, moving over the gravel without a sound. "What can I do for Hoenn's Champion and one of its most prominent gym leaders?"

"We need to talk," Steven said quickly, all business. "May we talk in private?"

"Certainly," Giovanni said, as if he expected such an outcome. "I have a direct elevator to my office from this battleground, please, follow me." He turned and walked back towards his side of the battlefield. Misty followed after Wallace and Steven, watching as the ground slowly returned back to its original, untouched state. As the pillars of stone retreated into the dirt, she wondered - not for the first time - who had designed the technology that kept the gyms in such good condition.

"You will have to excuse my battling techniques," he said. As they approached the white boundary walls, he reached out and placed his hand against a hidden compartment in the wall. "My son often believes he is far stronger than he is. As my mother once taught me, humility is a trait that can lead you further than arrogance."

Misty bit her bottom lip to say nothing as they entered the elevator. Everyone had their own parenting style, she supposed. She just felt it came across as rather… _harsh_. When he had stormed out, his son had seemed _broken _more than anything else.

The elevator arrived without a sound, opening into a brightly decorated office. Misty had expected brown walls, dotted with ancient trinkets and grandfather clocks. Instead he had a large painting of himself and his son framed, next to a picture of him posing next to his own championship team. She saw the vase of fresh red roses on his desk, with a folded note placed beside them that she could see a lipstick kiss signing it.

Glancing out of the windows, Misty saw the canopy of Viridian forest. She shuddered, thinking of the pokémon hidden within and turned away. She felt extremely out of place as she took a seat as far away as possible from the gym leader's desk. Steven and Wallace both sat on one side of the varnished, oak desk that was bigger than Misty herself. Giovanni poured himself a large glass of whiskey as he took a seat opposite them, reclining in his leather desk chair.

"So," he said, swirling his drink, "I will assume that the both of you arriving here with no prior notice means that you do not have good news."

Misty found it interesting that like Steven, Giovanni wore a black pinstripe suit. Unlike Steven, however, Giovanni wore it like it was a second skin. She could swear she could see the curvature of his muscles beneath. His hair was neatly cropped and gelled into rigidity. He tapped the golden band on his ring finger against his glass, forming a tune Misty was certain she recalled from somewhere.

"We need your help in a venture into Mount Silver," Steven said. "Yourself and the strongest trainers you have under your command. We have intelligence that leads us to believe something of great importance was buried in a settlement that exists beneath Mount Silver. When we tried to investigate, we were attacked by a great number of pokémon. Instead of trying to kill us, they seemed more intent on defending something from us. When we had killed enough of our attackers, the shadows contorted and took shape of some form of demon."

"A _demon_?" Giovanni asked, meeting their eyes. Misty could feel his disbelief washing off him. "What manner of pokémon do you think you were dealing with?"

"We don't know," Wallace answered. "Not for certain at least. How many pokémon are there that are nothing more than faded ink in a diary found in an archaeological site?"

"True. We thought the dragons of truth and ideals to be nothing more than myth, until recent events in Unova proved us wrong," Giovanni conceded. He took a swig of his drink and placed it back on a black coaster. He reached out to switch the computer monitor on his desk on. Turning the pen around, he used the bottom of it like a stylus and pressed commands on the screen of his computer. "We can leave at dawn tomorrow," he said, still focusing on his computer. "I can have some of my trainers meet us at Mount Silver's base camp with the necessary supplies we will need."

Having finished with his computer, he switched the screen back off and placed his pen back on his desk. Folding his hands on his lap, he glanced at Misty briefly. "I assume that you will not be bringing Miss Williams on our excursion?" Turning to her, he said, "I knew your father, if only through our positions as leaders. I will not patronise you by comparing you to him. Whilst I do not doubt that you are stronger than most trainers in your age range, I still doubt you would be more than a hindrance in this endeavour."

_Ouch_, Misty thought, managing not to flinch.

"She won't be," Wallace said quickly. "However, I brought her along today. Misty is a family member of mine. As gym leaders, we all hold secrets to do with the locations we have been sworn to protect. No matter the country we live in, this much always holds true. I do not doubt, Giovanni, that Viridian holds secrets that only yourself and the Kanto Elites are aware of."

Misty watched the way Giovanni turned back to him, nodding curtly. It was so strange to see him like this, so surreal. She had heard that he made millions by managing his own businesses before fully committing to being a pokémon trainer. She had seen him helping new trainers before and he had always been full of smiles, able to boost the confidence of any struggling trainer. Witnessing him here, she could picture him perfectly as a cutthroat boss, able to manage several businesses at once. He gave away nothing and yet, seemed to understand more than was being said.

"Very well," said Giovanni. "I will meet you both here at five a.m. tomorrow. I trust that you have your own instantaneous transport required for this trip?" As they nodded, he swallowed the last of his drink. "Very well. If that is all, then please, excuse me," he said, standing. "I had to delay a challenger to meet with you. I must return to my duties as a gym leader." With a smile, he added, "I must also inform my wife and son that I will be away for sometime. Should I spring this on them both I am confident they will not be best pleased."

"Thank you for your time, Giovanni," Wallace said, bowing elegantly as he stood. Misty tried to watch for where Giovanni left his office through, though Wallace ushered them out before she could see properly. She tried speaking with him outside of the office, though he continued to hurry her out, as if the thought of lingering left him uncomfortable. Even Steven was more silent than usual.

Instead of questioning it, Misty remained silent until they left the automated doors of the gym. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the smell of the cherry blossoms that decorated the path to the gym.

"That level of strength his pokémon had," Steven said, his voice distant. Misty looked up at him. Instead of facing her, he was watching the sky, as if searching for something. "You asked about becoming an Elite. I have seen Giovanni battle before - he was not lying when he said that cubone was his weakest pokémon. You need to be _beyond_ that." He handed her a strip of paper. Glancing at it, she frowned as she tried to make sense of the numbers, unable to fathom what it meant at first. "My number," he said, answering her unspoken question. "Feel free to ask, should you require my assistance."

"When we were still in Hoenn, I met your sisters," Wallace said, walking from the gym. Misty followed after him, keeping pace. Steven followed behind them, close enough that she could feel him behind them, yet far enough away to let them speak in relative privacy. "They told me you were still in Kanto, that you were uncertain of your path. I wanted to bring you with us to meet Giovanni, so that you could see a side of the world I doubt your parents let you see. Being a gym leader is a taxing task, one that does not just require strength of pokémon."

"I've always known that," Misty said. "I know I need to get stronger."

"Not just physically," Wallace told her. "You need to be _smarter_, stronger mentally. I had hoped that showing you this side of our dealings may help to open your eyes and allow you to make a more informed decision. You know the perils of Mount Silver. You know that we are going in there, well aware of the danger we will face. If you want to be an Elite, you will need to do similar. By focusing on water pokémon, it will mean you will be called in to deal with threats on the ocean, even _in _the ocean. I have had to delve into the depths of the ocean before now to investigate potential threats. You have to be comfortable dealing with the loneliness of solitude. There will be times where your pokémon are all defeated, healing, and you will be alone, with only your wits to survive. Before you commit to this path, I only ask that you make certain you know it is what you want."

"What else can I do?" Misty asked, disheartened. "My family's gym is gone. I can't just be a trainer. I'm never going to give up pokémon training - a career without pokémon isn't something I want to do. I used to dream of being a water pokémon master when I was younger. I'm being realistic by aiming to be an Elite. I know it's going to be hard. I know that I'll have my work cut out for me, but it's something I want to do - something I _need _to do."

"Her eyes are open wider than some that have become Elites," Steven commented. "Begin by making a name for yourself," he told her. "Compete in local tournaments, challenges, make certain that people know of your battle prowess. You will also need to make certain the other gym leaders have faith in your abilities."

"I can't challenge their personal teams," Misty said, frowning. "I'm not strong enough for that. I never did a gym challenge so I'd have to start there, wouldn't I?"

"Possibly," Wallace said, "though I don't think you need to be limited to the normal rules. You're a stronger trainer than most. Challenge gyms, request their eight badge teams. But also ask the leaders if they need help locally. We often employ the help of our gym trainers or those trainers of a suitable calibre to deal with tasks that we cannot. If you start those jobs, you'll begin to make the leaders rely on you. Do that, and they may ask you for favours. Do those…"

"And I'll be able to cash in favours later on," Misty finished, connecting the dots. "I didn't realise how much politics there would be in this."

"Better start learning," Wallace said, smirking. "Here." He handed her a note, his own number written on it. "If we are to leave tomorrow morning, we must begin our own preparations now. I do hate to leave you on such short notice, Misty, but duty does call." As she took the note he hugged her, rubbing her head in a way she tried not to scowl at. "Contact me if you need anything."

"Sure," Misty said. She glanced at them both, watching the way they seemed to share a conversation without words. "Is that it then? No big farewell? No hoards of screaming fans begging for your autographs?"

"Not today," Wallace said, laughing. "If we're to leave at daybreak tomorrow, we have other business to attend to first." Grabbing a poké ball, he released his slowking. Misty smiled when the pokémon looked over at her and waved. Apparently it remembered her - it was, after all, one of the offspring of her father's prize slowbro. "Text me. Let me have your number. I'll be certain to contact you once this is all done."

"Come to Hoenn sometime," Steven said. He moved past her to place his hand on the slowking's shoulders. "We're almost entirely _water _based, you should enjoy it there."

Something about his tone tipped Misty off. "You're having problems with water trainers there, aren't you?"

"Nothing yet," he answered, glancing at Wallace. "But there is an undercurrent - pardon the pun - that feels familiar to the Plasma fiasco sometime back. We're keeping an eye on it for now, but who knows what the future will hold." He looked back at Misty, meeting her eyes. "Make a name for yourself. Let the world know that you are not to be walked over, not to be trifled with."

"Oh, and protip," Wallace said quickly, "whatever your favourite drink is, make sure you always have some of that to hand. If you get photographed holding something often enough, the company will give you a lifetime supply for all the advertisement you've done for them." He winked. "Worked for me. Now, farewell for now, dear cousin."

"Wait, just one thing before you go," Misty said quickly, reaching out towards them. "Just why did you feel like bringing me to see Giovanni? You could have done that without me. You said it's to show me a side of gyms I didn't know about, but that's not really it, is it?"

"Giovanni is a strong trainer, with ties in almost everything you can imagine," Steven said. "Don't let him see you showing weakness."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"The new Cerulean gym leader seems to be an ally of his," Wallace said. "He had pushed for some time that both yourself and Brock were too young to function as Gym Leaders. Whilst Brock had the protection of family in the Elites, you didn't. I wanted him to see that you're not broken, and maybe help you see that losing the gym was not your fault."

"I…" Misty found her mouth had dried up as if in an instant. "I don't know what to say to that."

"Sometimes silence is the best thing you can say," said Steven.

Misty searched for an answer to that, struck dumb. As they vanished in a flash of light, she sighed and pulled out her phone, entering their numbers and sending them both a text. Gary had text to say that Shadow had delivered a note to Ash and returned successfully. The pokémon centre's systems had also alerted her that Ash had checked in to their room, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. It felt like as one problem was solved, another was created.

Sending a quick message to her sisters to let them know she had met Wallace, she decided that rather than heading back into town, she would head towards the forests north of Viridian. She shuddered as the trees began to grow taller, as the ground beneath her feet turned from concrete to hard dirt. The path grew more narrow. The trees seemed closer, their branches almost reaching out to touch her. She shuddered, picturing all the bugs hidden within. It was a stupid fear, an irrational idiotic one, yet still one she could not shake.

Seeing the ranger's checkpoint ahead, Misty decided that she had ventured far enough. Any further and she would well and truly be in the forest. As much as she wanted to face her fears, it felt like too much, too soon. Turning, she glanced upwards and happened to see a flash of red in the trees. Frowning, she moved towards it, wondering what sort of pokémon it could be.

As it turned out, it was a person.

"Hey," Misty called. "I remember you. You're Giovanni's son, aren't you?"

The boy turned to look down at her, a scowl on his face. He held onto the trunk of the tree with one hand, his other balancing him on the branch he sat on. She saw that he had a poké ball in his lap and found herself wondering what other pokémon he may have.

"What do you want?" he snarled. Her interest in his pokémon vanished in an instant. "Did my father send you? Tell him you couldn't find me."

"Actually, _no_, your father didn't send me," Misty growled. "I was _attempting _to be _nice_. I'll be sure not to make that mistake with you again."

_Rude_, she thought once more, storming away from him. Sure, she may have thought that Giovanni's methods for training him were a little harsh, but that gave him no right to be such a condescending little _twerp_. In fact-

"Hey!"

She spun on her heel, eyes narrowing as he shuffled down the tree trunk and jumped the last few feet to the ground. He walked slowly along the path towards her, his eyes focused on the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said, not looking at her. "For shoving you earlier."

"That's it?" Misty tried her best not to lose her temper. He was trying, at least. "Nothing else you want to apologise for?"

His head snapped up, his cheeks flaring as red as his hair. "Maybe I would apologise for the rest if you would let me." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed forcefully, as if trying to reign all his emotions under control. "Look, I'm sorry. Father… well he has the habit of putting me in the worst possible mood. I always feel weak compared to him, worthless. It makes me wonder why I bother training pokémon at all."

"Hey, don't be like that," Misty said. "Your father is one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto. Most trainers with badges would struggle to battle him - in fact, lots get beaten so badly they don't even bother with his gym. They go elsewhere, just so they stand a better chance. Have you tried talking to him at all?"

The boy snorted. "Because that would work so well. My father doesn't listen to anyone other than my mother and his three stooges he has that run his businesses for him. He likes to remind me that if I don't have power, I will always be doing someone else's bidding."

"That's a stupid way of looking at things," Misty muttered. "Anyway, it's fine. You're forgiven for being such a _butt_. I know what it's like to have family that treat you harsher than you'd want. My sisters always used to call me _the runt _because I wasn't as pretty as them, or as good with pokémon."

"My father calls me Silver," the boy said, scowling. "Because I'm always second-best."

"What an ass," Misty said. "Well anyway, I'm Misty."

"I know who you are," Silver said. "Father has mentioned your gym before. He likes to use it as an example about not being strong enough."

"Not strong enough?" Misty snarled. "I was _ten_! How the _hell _was I meant to keep battling trainers? My sisters and I had _no training_ on how to run a gym. We were just thrown in the deep end and expected not to drown! It's a wonder we lasted as long as we did!"

She sucked in a breath, forcing herself to relax as she saw the way Silver's eyes widened. "Sorry," she said quickly. "It's a sore subject."

Silver was quiet for a moment, watching her in a way that made her feel like she was an exhibition at an art gallery. When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut across her. "You're intent on proving yourself as well?"

"I've got no other choice," Misty admitted. "I'm going to start by going to Pewter. If I do the traditional gym circuit I'll go to all the gyms and meet the leaders. I need to prove myself, make people know that I'm not just the baby of Kanto's latest failed gym."

"In that case, I may see you along the way," Silver said, meeting her eyes. "I'm going to run away. I'm going to take on the Kanto gyms and prove to my father - to myself that I am stronger than he makes me feel."

"Are you sure running away is the only option? What about your mother?"

"She's barely at home anyway," Silver spat. "Both of my parents work non-stop." He plucked his poké ball from his pocket and held it in both his hands, cradling it to his chest. "My sneasel is almost the only family member I truly have. It's always been me and him. I don't see why we don't just start travelling anyway."

On the one hand, Misty knew that running away from home was one of the worst ideas. He could die if he was unprepared, or the police could chase after him and he could get hurt, or he could even end up missing, lost to the world, never to be seen again.

"Do whatever you think is best," she found herself saying. "When I was ten, I ran away for a few months, to get away from the gym. It probably didn't help with our reputation but… the pressure was too much. I wanted to pretend that I was just a normal kid, that I could do everything anyone else could do. I went back eventually, when I heard how badly our gym was really doing, but if you're as unhappy as you say you are at home…" She shrugged. "Then maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea."

"Strange," Silver said, smiling. "I thought you would tell me to stay. Be the good gym leader and tell me that everything would get better."

"A gym leader is meant to help people," she said. "What helps one person might not be helpful for another." She pulled out her phone and handed it to him. "Here. Put your number in my phone. That way I can contact you, check in and know that you're alright. If you want, I'm travelling now anyway. We can always go together."

"Thank you," Silver said, typing on her phone. "But I think this is something I need to do on my own. If I travelled with you, Father would say that I coasted on your abilities. If I'm to travel, to prove myself, I need to do it on my own. Perhaps afterwards?"

"Sure," Misty said, taking back her phone. She glanced at the name he'd entered and frowned. "Really? You sure you want me to call you Silver?"

He smirked at her. "Father has used that moniker to insult me for as long as I can remember. I'll use it and prove him wrong. Should you wish, my actual name is Markus."

"I'll go with Markus," Misty said, smiling. "At least so you won't be stuck in your own head all the time, comparing yourself to your father's words."

"That's nice of you. I'm not sure I deserve your kindness, with the way that I've treated you." He sighed as he shook his head. "Are you returning to town? I could walk back with you, if you don't mind?"

Misty glanced back, in the direction of Viridian. "Not yet I'm not," she said. She could feel her heart race as the idea formed in her mind. "I've spent my day doing so many things. I've rescued a ponyta that got injured, plotted the future with my best friend, gotten life advice from my cousin and his best friend, been amazed by your father's skills as a trainer and now spoken to you. It's made me realise how much I'm using other people's problems to ignore my own. I keep telling myself that I'll do something, but I keep putting it off." She sucked in a breath and puffed out her chest. "I need to start _doing_. I'm scared senseless of bugs. Always have been. I'm going to train until the sun sets, and I'm going to do it past the ranger's checkpoint, surrounded by bugs.

"So thank you, but not this time." Misty smiled at him as she brushed past him. "We'll meet again, on the road somewhere. I'll be sure to challenge you next time. It'll be nice to have some friendly competition, especially in another person who comes from a gym leader's family." She took Jasmine's poké ball from her belt and called forth her pokémon, using her familiar touch to calm her nerves. "Take care, Markus. I'll see you soon."

"Sure," he said, nodding. "Take care, Misty."

She turned and forced herself towards the forest, one step at a time. Jasmine, sensing her growing fear, stayed close to her legs, mewling constantly. Misty appreciated the effort her pokémon went through. One day, she would be able to venture through insect infested locations alone, without screaming. Until then she would rely on her pokémon, as much as they relied on her.

"Come on Jasmine," she said, swallowing her nerves. "We're going to face one of my fears."

**-0-0-0-**

If they could speak, Ash's muscles would have cried out in relief as he collapsed into a plastic chair in the pokémon centre's canteen. His back felt like it was _saturated_ with sweat. When he lifted his arms he could feel his shirt _peeling_ off his skin.

"I guess this is something I'm going to have to get used to," he muttered. He stared at the plate of food in front of him and felt his appetite retreat. Usually whenever he saw food he turned into the human equivalent of a garbage truck. Faced with the tasteless, almost _solid_ scrambled eggs, he found himself dreaming about his mother's cooking and wishing she could just appear and whip him up a meal.

Pikachu cooed from his lap. His paws were wrapped tightly around a bottle of ketchup, which made Ash groan upon noticing it. It was _not_ going to end well. Instead of fighting his pokémon for the condiment, Ash elected to sip at his hot chocolate and boot up his pokédex once again.

His pokémon had made good progress so far, even with the small amount of time they had been training for. He had left them both with the nurses for further healing, just to make sure they were properly healed for tomorrow. After so long in Viridian, Ash was itching to get out and go exploring.

Misty had only booked their room for just the one night. He assumed that meant they would be leaving in the morning, so he was content just to wait for a little bit longer. If they decided to stay, or go on without him, then as much as Ash would be upset about continuing on his own, he felt more confident in his ability to survive.

Fidgeting in the uncomfortable white plastic chair, Ash took another sip of his drink. The walls were the same pale shade of off-white as his eggs. It made forcing himself to eat them even more difficult.

He glanced up, looking around the relatively empty canteen. What few trainers there were had each taken a table to themselves, other than the group of teenagers in the corner. Ash had considered approaching someone, talking to them and getting their opinion on… well, _anything_, if he was honest with himself. He was so used to having Misty around, sharing her knowledge.

Even Gary, though they had spent less time spent together in comparison, had still been able to make Ash's nerves easier to ignore. The other trainers sat on their own had seemed content with their solitude, pointedly ignoring Ash when he had walked past.

"You'll get fat if you keep eating that," Ash said, looking down at Pikachu. His pokémon looked up at him, eyes wide, ears pinned backwards. He looked so genuinely hurt that Ash felt guilty and apologised instantly. The hurt vanished from Pikachu's face instantly, replaced with a smirk that reminded Ash profusely of Gary's smugness.

"Hey!" Ash grunted. "No teasing like that! You can't play innocent all the time and get what you want."

In response, Pikachu looked up at him with an innocent expression. "Yeah right," Ash said, snorting. "I'm not falling for that twice in a row. Just for that, you've lost your sugar rights." Before his pokémon could react, Ash swiped the ketchup bottle and placed it well out of his reach. His pikachu cried out with such a pained sound that the other people in the canteen looked over, staring straight at them. Ash laughed nervously as Pikachu tried to climb from his lap and reclaim the ketchup bottle.

"Your pikachu really knows how to pull your strings," a voice said, laughing. Ash looked up sharply, surprised to see a boy the same age as him smiling at him. "You both seem really happy together."

"We are," Ash said, gently plucking Pikachu from the table and holding him back in his lap. "When _someone _can behave that is." He sighed as he scooped up a forkful of egg and presented it to his pokémon. He knew that he was just making matters worse in the long run - he had coated the eggs in ketchup himself just to give them some flavour. Still, it drew his pokémon's attention away from the entire bottle.

Ash smiled at the boy, intrigued by the sense of familiarity he felt. The boy's brown hair was long and dishevelled - Ash was certain there was a _leaf _poking out from beneath his blue and yellow cap. Ash glanced at his food tray, his attention caught by the bright red, familiar machine.

"You got a pokédex too?" Ash said, grinning. "You must have started from Pallet too!" He gestured for the boy to take a seat opposite him. "I'm Ash."

"Ritchie," the boy said, sitting opposite him. He smiled as Pikachu cooed, wrapping his paws around the fork and forcing Ash to hold it in place. "I thought most people would have moved past Viridian by now."

Ash shrugged. "Pikachu and I got into some trouble with the local spearow, so we've ended up staying round here for longer. I don't really mind so much because I've managed to catch two pokémon so far, but I'm really ready to go soon. Has everyone else from Pallet really left already?"

"The ones I've spoken to have," Ritchie confirmed. "I think Professor Oak had about thirty people that got starters on the day we did. I played around with my pokédex and found that the league websites update with names and dates of challengers that have beaten gyms." He sighed as he glanced at the other trainers in the canteen and focused back on his food, poking his potatoes with a distant expression. "Do you ever feel like we're in a bit over our heads? Everyone else just seems so smart, like they've got everything sorted already."

"Sometimes," Ash confessed. He placed his fork back on the table and began to massage Pikachu's head, rubbing behind both his ears. His pokémon seemed to melt at his touch, groaning and falling limp in his lap. "But well… I only met Pikachu a week ago. I started off comparing myself to everyone until I realised; they've all been around pokémon longer than I have. Everyone else has had years to learn everything they know, so no wonder why they seem smarter than me." He shrugged and found himself smiling. "It doesn't mean that I'm stupid though. It just means that I have plenty of people - of friends - to learn from."

He noticed Ritchie matched his expression. Happily, he added, "I used to always think Gary was a jerk. He still is a jerk. But now I can see where he came from a bit better. Everything I'm learning now, he learnt ages ago. Same with Misty - another one of my friends. I'm happy that they're willing to help me learn and share what they know. Sure, it's annoying when they talk to me like I'm stupid, but it just means that I can prove them wrong." Noticing Pikachu had fallen asleep, he grinned and rested his hands on the table. "I want to be a pokémon master - I know that it won't happen overnight. In time, I know I'll be stronger than all of them. My mom always used to tell me that if something isn't hard work, then it isn't a worthy enough goal."

"Huh," Ritchie said, blowing on his own hot chocolate. "My mom always said something similar too."

"I know my mom used to say it because she owns her own restaurant," Ash said, grinning. "She told me all about how she started off in a market selling hot food until she got enough money to rent a building. She runs _Ketchum Kuisine_, on _5-ban 3-gō_."

"Really?" Ritchie grinned back at him. "My mom owns a hairdressers on _5-ban 21-gō_. That's just round the corner! We would eat there at the end of the month. It's the one with the mr. mime chefs, isn't it?"

"That's right!" Ash found the smile impossible to keep off his face. Pikachu stirred in his lap, enough for him to keep his voice down. "That's why you look familiar; I must have seen you around."

"Must have!" Ritchie matched his smile. "Hey, my charmander's healing at the moment and he won't be finished until tomorrow morning. Shall we go find some real food in the meantime?"

Ash laughed, rousing Pikachu from his sleep. "I swear, it's like you read my mind."


	4. Rivals - III

When Gary woke, he had to fight not to just roll over and bury his face in the thin, stiff pillows of his pokémon centre bed. He groaned as he pushed himself up and opened his eyes to find that daylight was already creeping through the curtains.

He moaned and pressed the balls of his palms into his eyes. What was supposed to be a quick nap had apparently transformed into an entire night of sleep. Groggily, he pushed himself off his bed and stumbled towards their shared bathroom.

Twenty minutes and a quick shower later, Gary walked back into the bedroom, drying his hair with a towel. When he arrived back in their shared room the night before, Misty and Ash had yet to return. Misty was still sleeping, curled up beneath her blanket, cuddling a stuffed psyduck doll. Ash had clearly slept in his bed, though had left without waking either of them up. His bed was still a mess and his bedsheets were kicked to the floor. Gary snorted, thankful that Ash had taken a bottom bunk. Had Misty been sleeping on the bottom, there would have been hell to pay had she been woken by things falling in her face.

Wherever Ash had gotten to, he clearly had no plans of staying there for long. He had left his backpack in the middle of his bed, in front of which he had left a note that took Gary an obscene amount of effort to decipher. It told them that he would be back soon, and that he had decided to go out training as he was having trouble sleeping.

It seemed that Ash was working quickly to overcome his shortcomings. Gary could appreciate how much effort he was already putting into his training career, though a jaded part of him wondered how long he would be able to continue it for.

Gary pushed the thoughts aside as he begun to pack as quickly as as quietly as he could. He knew that Misty would be disappointed to learn that he had left whilst she slept and he supposed Ash would be too. It was easier for him, however, to leave whilst they were asleep. Gary wanted to make tracks, to distance himself from them. Company was nice every so often, but he had always found that surrounding himself with people distracted him, never letting him complete the goals he wanted.

Leaving a note for Misty on the dresser, he crept out of the room and shut it silently behind him. He dropped the room key back off at reception, smiling to himself as he left the pokémon centre. The crisp, cool air of the morning drifted across his skin, making him shudder, despite the long, red sleeves of his shirt. He called Shadow to his side, smirking as he grabbed his bag with one hand, sliding his other into his jeans pocket.

"Come on, Shadow," he said. "We're heading towards Pewter. We've got some training to do on the way. I'm not gonna lie - it'll be tough. I need to push you guys more and more. We're going to be Champions, Shadow. We can't allow any weakness."

Shadow bumped his head against Gary's leg, grunting in agreement. "Awesome," Gary said. "Guess we're heading to the forest."

He hummed to himself as they walked through the streets of Viridian. Sticking to the pavements, Gary marvelled at the way the blocks changed. Closer to the gym, he saw trainers already making their way in and out of the city. As he cut through the financial district, he saw instead the way workers would glance at him and his pokémon, as if they were beneath their standing. Gary strode past them all, unflinching, daring them to say something. He laughed to himself as they made their way past men and women in suits and smart dress, each of them going out of their way to avoid the trainer and his pokémon.

He supposed that a better person, a nicer person may have wondered why they treated him with such obvious disdain. Gary, however, had heard enough lectures from his grandpa about the way the world had changed. Events in Unova had resulted in a war that had finished just as quickly as it had begun. The resulting tensions between trainers and non-trainers were clearly still there, lingering beneath the surface. If he was to be the Champion, he would have to address that.

Playing with his pokédex, Gary barely noticed as the city began to fade away. He saw Shadow bounce through grass that reached Gary's knees and blinked, looking up from his planning. He scowled, angry at himself for not paying enough attention. What sort of trainer was he, if he failed to even notice when he moved out of a city and into the wilds?

Shadow yipped, drawing his attention. His eevee grabbed the hem of his jeans, dragging him to the west, off the path Gary wanted to follow. Frowning, he had no choice but to obey his pokémon's demands.

The trees seemed to thin out at the sides, almost seeming to form a natural clearing. The gravel path vanished, replaced instead with a well-trodden route through grass that brushed against Gary's legs. His ears pricked at the sounds of voices, as too did Shadow's. His eevee bounced up, barking happily.

_Of course_, he groaned to himself, seeing just who his pokémon was happy to see. _You played with him once and you're best friends._

"Gary!" Ash shouted, smiling as he waved. Gary sighed, smiling back and trudged towards him, kicking dirt as he went. He would have liked to have been near the ranger's outpost now, about to go into the deepest, darkest parts of Viridian's forest. Out there, where even the rangers feared to tread, he would be able to really push his team to the limits.

For the first time, he noticed Ash's companion and smirked to himself. Of course Ritchie and him would have found a way to meet each other. They were so similar, so _offensively _optimistic.

"Hey Shadow!" Ash laughed as he bent down to play with the eevee. His pikachu jumped down from his shoulders and sniffed the new pokémon, sparks dancing across his cheeks in a curious manner. Gary watched as the pokémon, apparently content with the lack of perceived threat from each other, relaxed and sat beside each other, talking in a series of growls he could never hope to understand.

"Oh, Gary!" Ash said suddenly, standing back up. He spun around on the spot, somehow nearly tripping over his own feet. Some distance behind him, Ritchie had sat himself down in the tall grass, as if hiding from them both. Gary scowled, wondering just what his problem was. Ritchie flinched, as if Gary's mood had struck him physically.

"Do you know Ritchie?" Ash continued, oblivious. "He's from Pallet too!"

"We've met," Gary said, cordially. "We got our starter pokémon from my grandpa at the same time." He tilted his head in Ritchie's direction. "Good battle the other day. You and your charmander doing okay?"

"Yeah, we're getting there." Ritchie fidgeted constantly, almost like he was uncertain about being the centre of attention. "Zippo's got a bit of a temper on him, but I seem to be getting it under control."

"I'm not surprised," Gary said. "Gramps usually breeds all the starters from his own team. His charizard is _still _an arrogant old lizard. Apparently genes can carry over personality traits. Anyway," he said, tapping his leg. Shadow's ears perked, pointing in his direction. "I should probably get going. Misty's still sleeping and I've left her to it. I want to make tracks and _is that a mankey writing_?"

He blinked, unable to believe his own eyes. In fact, he could barely understand how he had managed to _completely _overlook such a sight.

A mankey, completely ordinary looking in every regard, was sat behind Ash, nestled in between two rucksacks, legs crossed and a book in one hand, a pen in the other.

"Oh, yeah!" Ash said, grinning. He squatted down next to the mankey and patted it on the head. Gary flinched and threw his arm up to protect his face. He had heard the horror stories about that pokémon. Yet nothing happened. There was no screaming, no bloody murder, no missiles made of faeces. In fact, Gary saw as he opened his eyes, the mankey seemed to be _enjoying_ it.

"This is my mankey," Ash said. "I caught him when you and Misty ended up dealing with that coach crash." He pulled a pellet of pokémon food from his jacket pocket and handed it to the pokémon. It took it, eerily calm as is continued to stare at the pages of the book. "I haven't thought of a name for him yet though. He didn't seem to like anything so far."

Gary could hear the words coming in his ears, yet his brain seemed unable to register them. Instead it focused on one single, obvious point. "That mankey. It's _reading_."

"It surprised me too," Ritchie said. "I thought they were all bad tempered and angry."

"Not my mankey!" Ash said with a laugh. "He just wants food. So long as I keep him fed, he's happy."

"I… uh…" Gary felt like words were an impossible concept to understand. His eevee returned to his side, bumping against his leg as if to check that he was still functioning. "How long have you been teaching it this for?"

"Since this morning. Well, yesterday was when we got the idea and started it, but this morning was when I managed to give him the book and the pen and let him start writing too."

"_Since this morning_?" Gary could feel his brain spinning in circles. "That's… that's just… I need to ring my grandpa." He pressed a hand to his head and had to take a deep breath. "I just… that's a really smart idea, Ash. How… how did you even get it to listen to you?"

"Oh that was easy," Ash said. "I caught a hoothoot as well. She's really smart, so I had her translate everything for me."

"I just…" Gary was certain the world was spinning. "I think I need to lie down." He took a deep breath and held it, waiting for clarity to return. "Ash, you should let my grandpa know about what you've done. He'd be interested to know about it. Just out of curiosity's sake, why are you teaching your mankey to read?"

"He wanted to learn," Ash said, shrugging. He made it sound like his reasoning was obvious, like it was a situation that everyone would experience. "Or if we get separated, or if I'm using him to scout ahead or anything really, so he can let me know properly. I thought it might be useful."

_I can't believe I never thought of doing something like that._

Gary ground down the thoughts before they could fester. Gramps did like to remind him that no matter someone's intelligence, there was always someone better, and always someone worse. For the first time, the old man's lectures about trying to not always follow the obvious thought path began to make sense.

"Right," Gary said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm actually gonna head off now. Look after Misty for me, will you Ash? I'll see you somewhere along the road."

"Wait right there Gary! We need to battle! Two on two, right here, right now! We'll have the battle you wanted yesterday!"

Gary sighed as he turned back around, facing Ash. "Really?" he asked, yawning. "Ash, we only just battled _yesterday_. Give it some time."

"You're just chicken," Ash threw back, tucking his arms beneath his armpits, bending his elbows and flapping his arms. "Gary _Chicken _Oak."

"Why don't we all battle?" Ritchie said, surprising Gary. Honestly, he had forgotten that he was even still there with them. "Ash and I can battle you, Gary," he said, looking at him. "A double battle, right? We'll use one each, and you can use two."

He had to admit, it did sound like a good idea. Plus it would get his team in some good teamwork training in the process. "Alright," he said, "you're on." Grabbing two poké balls from his belt, he walked away from them both until there was ample distance between them. Shaking his head as Shadow began to paw at the ground, he threw both of his poké balls forwards. "Let's see how you like these two then!"

He smirked as his squirtle and spearow appeared in a flash of light. Glancing around, Gary nodded at them when they looked at him. "Double battle guys. I need you both to work together."

He saw the realisation appear in both their eyes. Being the smarter of the two, his squirtle dropped to all fours immediately, moving into a fighting stance. His spearow, following the lead, flew higher, circling them.

Gary was unsurprised when Ritchie called his charmander forth. In fact, he doubted that he had even caught anything else yet. Still, he had to admit that the lizard looked imposing. He stood nearly as tall as Ritchie, coming up to his shoulder. His scales were a dark, fiery orange, his claws the colour of midnight sky.

When Ash called forth his pokémon, Gary knew it had to be his hoothoot. The bird, however, was entirely _not _what Gary had been expecting. Where Ritchie's charmander was large for its species, Ash's hoothoot would have been the runt in any nest. It was small - smaller than most common pidgey - and one of the thinnest of its kind Gary had seen. What stood out most, however, was the colour of its feathers, almost sparkling gold in the sun.

_Of course_, Gary thought, scowling to himself. He glanced at his eevee and rolled his eyes. He thought he had been the lucky one, to find a genetic variant. Ash had done so too, though the colour comparison was not lost on Gary.

He took a breath, forced himself to think. Hoothoot were speedy, long ranged attackers. Charmander could fight in both quarters. He could play the defensive, maybe prepare for further attacks.

"Hoothoot! Peck the spearow!"

"Zippo, scratch the squirtle!"

_That's not -_

Gary scowled. "Donnie! Tuck and roll! Talon, outspeed it!"

His squirtle tucked itself into its shell. Claws hard enough to break rock sliced down against it, blunted by the impact. The charmander reared back, baring its fangs, growling. At the same time, his spearow sped up, almost blurring through the sky. Gary could barely keep track of it. The hoothoot squawked as it tried to keep up, pounding its smaller wings furiously.

"Now spin away!" Gary shouted. "Talon, give Donnie some room - dive bomb the charmander!"

His squirtle, tucked in its shell, began to spin. Gary heard Ash and Ritchie cry out commands. He tried his best to tune them both out. Though he had told Ash that listening to an opponent's commands could clue you into their strategy, he was still too new to trainer battling to try so.

Zippo cried out as the spinning squirtle hurtled away from him. With the open opportunity, Talon shot down from the sky, wings aglow with energy. Unable to escape in time, Zippo took a glowing wing to the back. He screeched as he flew face first into the dirt. Still following Talon, the hoothoot shrieked and charged after the spearow, its eyes aglow with psychic energy.

At Gary's command, Donnie emerged from his shell on all fours, growling. He reared back and spit out a stream of bubbles that exploded on contact with anything. Craters were left in the dirt where they made contact. Zippo retreated, snarling, protecting its tail. The hoothoot weaved through the assault, right into Talon's path. The spearow descended on it, slashing at it with its taloned feet. At Ash's command the hoothoot slammed its tiny body into the spearow, knocking it backwards, giving it some space to breathe.

Talon soared into the sky, keeping the sun behind it. Zippo looked up and was blinded by the sun. Taking his chance, Donnie raced forward and threw himself at the charmander, tackling it to the ground. As the hoothoot tried to interfere, Talon descended, squawking, feathers puffed out threateningly. The charmander screamed as Donnie bit down on his shoulder hard enough to draw blood. Rearing back, the squirtle smashed his skull into Zippo's head, dazing the charmander. Above them, the birds continued to battle, tackling each other repeatedly, biting with their beaks, slashing with their claws.

Zippo tried a point blank burst of fire. Donnie ducked his head back into his shell, avoiding it completely. The fire continued upwards. Gary's spearow, caught completely unaware, was consumed by the flames in seconds. Gary heard the screams, smelt the burning feathers and recalled his pokémon, scowling.

In retaliation, his squirtle grabbed the charmander's head and bashed it against the floor until it was knocked out. Grunting to itself, it rolled off Zippo as Ritchie recalled him, ignoring the trainer to glare at the remaining pokémon fluttering above it.

"It's just you and me now!" Ash shouted, drawing Gary's attention. "Me and my hoothoot will put you down!"

Gary tried not to roll his eyes at him. Ash's tactics were simple; rush in, attack and beat the opponent unconscious. Typical glass cannon. Worse still that he tried with a pokémon that excelled at long range attacks rather that physical strength.

"Now hoothoot! Tackle it again!"

Gary tried not to roll his eyes. "Tuck and defend!" His squirtle pulled his body into his shell again, hiding beneath the hard shell. Any hoothoot would not have the strength to break it. Gary smiled to himself. All he had to do was have his pokémon hide, tucked away safely and tire the hoothoot out. It was just a matter of picking the right time and -

"Alright! Now get in close whilst it's in its shell and put it to sleep!"

_What._

"Crap!" Gary hissed. The hoothoot dove to the ground, eyes glowing white. Gary panicked, screaming for his pokémon to run. Donnie's stubby legs emerged from his shell. The hoothoot landed atop Donnie's shell, claws placed on either side of its head. It peered down into the shell, eyes still glowing.

With nowhere left to retreat to, his squirtle fell asleep in seconds. Scowling, Gary acknowledged the inevitable and withdrew his pokémon.

"Alright!" Ash cheered, leaping into the air. His pikachu copied him precisely, down to punching the air in celebration. "Take that, Gary! Who's the best now?"

"You got lucky, Ash," Gary shouted back. He glanced down at Shadow, watching the way his pokémon looked back up at him, tail wagging back and forth slowly. Gary could almost hear his grandpa's voice in his ears, telling him that he thought too much, that he let his confidence get the better of him.

"Guess we better train harder," he whispered, making certain only his eevee could hear him. "Hey Ash!" he shouted, grinning at the other trainer. "Guess we're even! Next time we meet, we'll have to have a deciding match!"

"You're not staying?" Ash looked crestfallen at that. His hoothoot, barely even the size of his head, was perched on his shoulder, grooming his tangled hair. "I thought if we battled you might change your mind."

"Nope, I'm still going," Gary said. He cleared the space between them and shrugged theatrically. "Not much of a trainer if I don't train and try to get some badges. I want to get to Pewter before the week's out. If you're both serious about getting to the League, you should think about getting a move on too."

"I'll probably leave soon," Ritchie said. He looked at the floor, biting his lip. "I mean, maybe. Zippo and I need to get stronger, and I think we need another teammate." He looked up and glanced to Ash. "I think… I think I need to do that on my own. It's like you said before Ash; I can't keep comparing myself to other people. I think if I'm on my own for a bit, it might help."

"You're both leaving?" Ash whispered, sad. "I guess… I guess it happens. That just means next time we all meet, we should all battle again!" He placed his hand between them all. "What do you say?"

"Sure!" Ritchie agreed instantly, placing his hand atop Ash's.

"What about you, Gary?"

Seeing the hopeful looks in their eyes, Gary was torn between joining their innocence or ruining it.

"Whatever, losers," he said, turning and flipping his hair. "I don't need some big gesture of happy teammates to battle you both again. Just make sure you both look after my grandpa's pokémon. And Ash!" he said over his shoulder, turning to scowl at him. "Make sure you look after Misty. She's strong, but she needs more people she can trust."

"Of course," Ash said, as if he had never considered doing anything else. As Gary began to walk away, back towards the path to Viridian's dense forests, Ash called after him, "Don't forget! Next time I'll show you I'm better than you!"

Gary said nothing, instead chuckling as he waved goodbye. With Shadow bouncing around his ankles, he dialled a number from memory and pressed his phone to his ear before it began to ring.

"Hey Gramps," he said the moment it was answered, "you better be sitting down right now, because _boy _do I have some mind-blowing stuff to tell you."

**-0-0-0-**

"_Bugsy Sighted in Kanto - Just What Could-"_

"_Trainers Hate Her! Watch How This 87-"_

"_Mono-type Tournaments, Coming to a City Near You!"_

"_Saffron's Sabrina, Showing that Psychic is the New Sexy!"_

"_I Left My Fiancé for a Machoke!"_

"Oh. My. _God_." Misty closed her eyes and for a very, _very_ long moment, considered the notion of simply throwing her pokédex into the stream and pretending that the world's trashy news stories would drown and never surface again. "And this is why I never click on anything you send me."

"Like, _chill_, Double-Em. I obviously wouldn't send you something that's like, _complete_ trash."

"No, only _mostly_ trash," Misty growled. She laid down on the grassy bank and let her toes dip into the stream. She could hear the magikarp as they broke the water's surface, looking for food. The water's current created a background noise that let her pretend she was miles away from her problems.

"And don't think I didn't notice _that_ name being thrown in there," she muttered. Sitting back up, she pulled her phone from the ground and glared into the camera. The smiling, ever-outwardly-carefree face of her sister beamed back at her. Behind her bleach-blonde hair, Misty could see palm trees slowly swaying in the breeze. Whilst normally Misty would question why anyone would be on the beach at night, she knew better than to ask where Daisy was concerned. She was, and always would be, a sucker for cocktails on the beach.

"Well, easier than saying _Moody Misty _all the time," Daisy said with a laugh. She moved the camera, giving Misty ample view of Daisy's bartender. He was tanned, ripped and looked like he had just been plucked from the cover of a modelling magazine. She rolled her eyes and tried to hide her blush as the camera moved back. "Like, _anyway_, it was an old article analysing wave patterns and it said that there was an old ship near the remains of Sea Mauville."

Misty leant towards the phone, her heart racing, her mouth dry. "And you think it might be-"

"It's not the _Libra_," Daisy said quickly. She took a sip of her drink - and it was decorated with a tiny pink umbrella, because of _course_ it _had_ to be - and burped so suddenly that she almost dropped the phone in shock.

Misty stared back at the phone for a long moment before managing to smile. "Seven out of ten."

"Seven? _Gosh_, like give me _some_ credit, that was at _least_ an eight." Laughing, Daisy took another sip of her drink through the luminous green straw before placing it back out of sight. "Anyway, we're all going to look at Sea Mauville tomorrow and see what we can find. They used to make the ships there, so maybe we'll like, find a working deep sea scanner or something to help us look."

"Hopefully," Misty said distantly. "Anyway, how is Hoenn? I bumped into _Wallace_ yesterday."

"Oh wow, he got there quick," Daisy said. "We like, totally met him the other day when we were digging round Sootopolis for info. Strange to see him without his boyfriend by his side."

"_Daisy_," Misty said with a sigh, "I don't think Steven's interested in him that way."

"Oh _please_, I've never been wrong with a thing like this. I know when people are meant to be together. It's like, my superpower."

"Of _course_ it is Daisy."

"Just you wait, little sis. One day you'll meet a guy or girl and I'll totally be able to tell whether you two will be a thing or not."

"You know, for such a love guru, you'd think you'd be able to sort your _own_ lovelife first."

"Oh, _low_ blow!" Daisy said with a wince. She sighed as she grabbed her drink and took another sip. "But what can I say? I'm like, too young and beautiful to settle down. I'm like, gonna enjoy my body before my lady parts start to sag."

"Oh Daisy, _gross_! I did _not_ need that mental image!"

"Happens to us all, Double-Em," Daisy said with a cackle. Draining her drink with a loud slurping sound, she smacked her lips and made a gesture for her waiter to come back. "Anyway, Hoenn's great. It's like, perfect sunbathing weather, the eyecandy is enough to give a girl diabetes and our pokémon are _loving _the amount of ocean and water over here. It would have been good if you had chosen to come with though."

"It would have," Misty said with a smile. "But, I need to figure things out for myself."

"I know, I like, totally get it," Daisy said. She gestured for her drink to be refilled and Misty pointed the phone in another direction as her sister pulled a bill from her tiny bikini top that made Misty honestly wonder how she had yet to be arrested for public indecency. "But like, don't forget this is for you to go out and figure out what _you_ want to do. Like, leave the heavy stuff to us."

"Daisy-"

"No, I mean it, Misty," Daisy said. "Yeah you're our baby sister and like, we totally give you shit for it, but that doesn't mean we'd expect you to like, not have a normal childhood. Like, I know we're all not exactly down the road, but we're only ever a phone call away. And if it's like, deadly serious, we'll drop everything and be there. You know that."

"I know," Misty said. Her mind was alive with Will's face. She imagined watching his surprise as she crushed him in a pokémon battle, then imagined getting to witness the police cart him away to a dark, deep hole and throw him in, never to be seen again. "But everything's good!" she said, worrying that perhaps she had put _too much_ false cheer into her voice.

"Well, if you say so." It was easy to forget that Daisy was a lot harder to fool than she appeared. "In that case then, I guess I'll let you get on with your day. Be safe, little sis."

"You take care too," Misty said. "Tell Lily and Violet I said hi."

"Will do! Love you!"

"Love you too."

With a sigh Misty locked her phone and placed it back in her pocket. It was so easy to lie, to pretend that she was fine and that nothing was worrying her. If she was certain of nothing else, it was that the only way she was going to get stronger was to continue to face her fears and meet the challenges head on. If she needed help, she would ask for it. Until then, Misty was determined to prove that she was more than just the fourth Sensational Sister, and the youngest member of a failed Gym.

"Next time we talk, I'll have results," she promised. "So let's see if you're able to keep up, big sisters."

**-0-0-0-**

Wallace breathed in the cold, crisp dawn air. Shivering, he buried his hands beneath his armpits and exhaled, his jaw trembling loudly.

"You're always cold," Steven commented, unhelpfully.

"You're always moody," he threw back, baring his teeth.

Steven laughed. "Just distracting you from your nerves, friend."

"Remind me to appreciate you when you're not being an asshole. Oh wait, that's _never_." Growling, Wallace looked up at the Viridian gym's closed doors. "Where is he?"

"We're five minutes early," Steven said. "One can hardly blame him for being on time." Glancing through the glass doors, he added, "Though it seems he comes to relieve us from the _scary cold _now."

"Asshole," Wallace muttered, glaring. The moment the doors open, he forced stoicism and slid his hands from his armpits to the pockets of his dark blue winter jacket. "Giovanni," he said, nodding.

"Gentlemen." Giovanni was dressed in sharp, almost fitted dark green tactical wear. Wallace had heard once that the man had spent some time in the army, working as a mercenary before found his calling back in Kanto. Honestly, he had found the tales intriguing, of how he moved from working in bars to owning a franchise of them, and furthering his reach into the stock markets, restaurants, estate agents and construction.

He locked the doors behind them, where they echoed endlessly in the cold, empty gym. The clinical white lights of the gym seemed alien in contrast to the early morning sun.

"I have a few last things to collect from the battlefield," he said, leading them towards it. "I hope you don't mind. My son wanted one last battle before I left, so I could not help but oblige."

Having spent a large amount of time in his own gym when all was quiet, Wallace found himself basking in the familiar unfamiliarity of the silence. He missed the smell of chlorine from his own swimming pools, and the sounds of the waterfalls from his freshwater enclosures. He even missed the hum of the purifying tanks that would keep all his water clean. Giovanni's gym had no such comforts. In contrast it almost felt barren - though having seen the gym Steven once owned, Wallace had a true barren comparison to measure against.

As they walked into the battlefield, Wallace could not help but frown. There were no recent signs of battle. The porygon artificial intelligence that ran the gym's repair programme should have still been running, inspecting for damage.

"Just give me two minutes, gentlemen," Giovanni said.

Wallace caught the flick of his wrist, the concealed button in his palm. His heart raced. Something was off. Something was _wrong_.

He grabbed his swampert's poké ball and activated it.

Nothing happened.

He pressed the button once, twice more. Each time his pokémon failed to come to his call.

"Something's wrong," Wallace hissed, grabbing Steven's arm. "My poké balls aren't working."

Steven's eyes went to his hairline in surprise. Wallace watched as he activated the poké ball he kept hidden in his right cuff link. Nothing. His breath caught in his throat. What was going on?

"Gentlemen," Giovanni said, his back to them. He raised his other hand, a small device held within it. "Don't bother calling your pokémon. A dampening field is surrounding the gym, preventing them from working."

"That technology is _illegal_!" Wallace hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Remaining atop of the food chain." He pressed the device in his hand. Safety shutters ran down the doors. Metal plates blocked the exits from the battlefield. The world plunged into darkness.

One by one, the gym's emergency lighting came back on. It lit up the world in a dull, sick green tone.

"Giovanni!" Steven barked. "Cease this at once!" He cracked his knuckles. "I do not require my pokémon to take you down."

Giovanni's laugh echoed throughout the room. It was a dark, _evil_ laugh that set Wallace's entire being on edge.

"I may take you up on that offer, another time." He walked to his side of the battlefield, beyond the safety net. Wallace recognised it as where Giovanni hid the controls to secret elevator to his office. He tried to race after him, to stop him. Impossibly, his legs failed to move. He tried to look at Steven. His entire body was frozen, paralysed by an unseen force.

"Don't try moving, either," Giovanni continued, his voice reaching them as if he was stood beside them. "In fact, this may be easier for you both if you accept your fates." He pressed a button on the wall and slid his palm into a recess that emerged. The lights flicked and began to die, one by one.

"Erase their memories of what they discovered in Mount Silver. Make them remember our conversation differently; I assuaged their concerns with Kanto. They can return to Hoenn and cease their concerns with our nation."

The lights faded, plunging them into absolute darkness. Wallace heard the screeching sound of a metal door opening.

The last thing he saw was a glowing blue pair of eyes. After that, everything disappeared beneath the searing _agony_ in his mind.


	5. Interlude - I

Gary had been in Pewter City for all of three days and had already beaten the gym leader, claiming his first step towards reaching the Pokémon League.

He was still smiling to himself as he bounced around the local Pokémart, almost dancing as he filled his trolley, crossing things off his mental list as he went.

He had planned for Donnie to start fighting in the gym, with a backup consisting of Shadow and Ursa. As it had turned out, Donnie was enough on his own to bring down both of the gym leader's pokémon.

Yet despite all his planning, his battle with Ash continued to replay in his mind. It had nearly been two weeks since then and yet he still struggled to understand just _how_ Ash's mind seemed to work. His grandpa had agreed that teaching a _mankey_ of all things was a novel notion.

He had also used the opportunity to further lecture him about the importance of not relying solely on battle plans. Each battle was a different fight and there was no one method that suited everything.

What his grandpa failed to understand, it seemed, was that Gary _always_ had a plan for everything. His long term goals were written up and stored on his pokédex. He checked against them once a week to monitor his progress. He set himself weekly targets and monthly goals. Each of his pokémon had a plan for battle tactics and Gary had already marked out what he was going to teach them and the roles they would fit in his team.

If he was to be stronger than Lance, stronger than his Grandpa and stronger than _anyone _else, Gary would make damn sure that even his weakest link was something that would give even the Gym Leaders nightmares.

It took five minutes to pay for his purchases, and another ten to pack them away into the relevant storage compartments of his bag. He would sort through and break up the food into portions for meals, leaving enough leftover for emergencies and any additional captures. His own meals would be portioned out, ready for when he needed them. He had his own exercise and training regimes drawn up and registered alongside those of his pokémon.

Daisy liked to tease him about how much he planned for everything. When he had called her to celebrate his victory against Brock, it had taken all of five minutes for the conversation to turn to her prodding him to see if any of his strategies had fallen through. She had questioned why he had bought nutritional mixes for every type of pokémon when he only had a handful at present.

He reminded her that he planned for _everything_.

As it was, he had allowed himself some free time to explore Pewter. He had another night in the city before moving on. As much as he wanted to keep a pokémon out with him, none of his current team were a good idea to have out in public. Shadow was an eevee with a silver coat - he would be constantly on alert to make certain there was no one following him trying to steal the pokémon. Donnie would struggle with walking that much, Ursa was cute and cuddly, but still a teddiursa, which meant fangs and claws near people. His newly caught scyther still needed some training before being out around people and Talon, despite being well behaved, was still a spearow. Given the farmlands around Pewter and the livestock they reared around the city that was routinely ravaged by spearow flocks, there was no real love for the birds amongst the populus.

Without his pokémon for companionship, he made a beeline for the Pewter Museum. Built into the side of the mountains on the north of the city, it was almost impossible to be anywhere in Pewter and not see the white marble columns decorating the entrance. Gary made his way there, smiling as he reached the base of the stone steps that lead to the entrance. He could remember visiting with his parents, back when he was so small that he had to _literally_ climb up the steps. As it was, they were still somewhat of a challenge, leaving him more breathless than he would care to admit.

It reminded him of the hiker paths up the likes of Mount Silver. Some of the older Kanjo religions still had shrines at the very top of the mountains, and there were dedicated ranger teams to make sure the paths were kept as danger-free as possible. Some made the trip only once a year, some once a month. The last time Gary had tried it, he had been aghast to realise that there were people in their _eighties_ dealing with the climb with more ease than he was.

He added another exercise to his mental list, making a note to add it to the pokédex later. All pokémon centres had gyms for general use and he had made a habit of starting to use them anyway, so it was merely one more item on the agenda that he could add in.

Admission was still that paltry sum of fifty poké. It was interesting to see that the museum received so much funding from the League that they were able to charge such a base rate. Unlike the League itself - once upon a time, tourists and trainers had been able to pass through the League's gates to victory road. Now, thanks to whatever catastrophe the media had yet to publish, they had erected blockages along the way, manned by rangers who would check their badges before granting them access.

Part of Gary wanted to go back to the spot-faced ranger that had denied him entry and shove his badge down the guy's throat. The calmer, more logical side of him reminded him that to be a ranger, the guy would have to have at _least_ eight badges.

So he would have to wait just a little bit longer for petty revenge. Possibly after he had five badges. If nothing else, Gary would make sure to add 'overachiever' to his list of accomplishments.

As Gary rolled up his jacket and stuffed it into a locker, he caught sight of a _lucario_ of all things sat on a bench against the wall. It looked downright _bored_ as it rolled a coin between its fingers. Gary hastened in stuffing his bag into the locker, locked it shut behind him and angled towards the pokémon.

It barely spared him a passing glance. It had crossed one leg over the other knee and resting its chin in a hand, continued to roll the coin with its free hand. As the person in a locker in front of the pokémon shut the door, the pokémon's ears perked up and suddenly, it sat up straight.

The trainer - because Gary could only assume a pokémon would be that excited when its trainer was paying attention to it - had dark brown hair cut in such a way that it reminded him of an acorn. He was pale, with a long, stainless white shirt that was open and reached his hips. It had pockets at the bottom, which made Gary picture it as a lab coat. The t shirt beneath was the same shade of pale green as the trainer's eyes - Gary noticed it immediately as the trainer turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

Lucario were _amazing_ pokémon. They were capable of long ranged and close attacks, and were one of the smartest possible creatures in existence, behind psychic types. Their powers with aura were what first drove humans to investigate _chi_, and Gary had read some papers saying that it was by training alongside a lucario that humanity had first come across the concept of chakras.

Plus they were so damn _cool_.

Gary swallowed to stop himself from squeaking and just nerding out about the pokémon. Instead he smiled at the trainer and asked, "Is it alright to scan your lucario? Not everyday you see one in Kanto."

The trainer blinked slowly, as if he were in a daze. "Sure," he said, finally. "Go ahead. Lucario, you don't mind, do you?"

The pokémon barked as it shook its head. Gary was grinning as he booted up the scan function of his pokédex and added the pokémon's data. The numbers, whilst not anything particularly special, felt somehow off. Gary was reminded of his Grandpa's advice, warning him that the pokédex worked off several algorithms, laws of averages and with a lot of assumptions. There was a reason why most expert trainers no longer used them - and indeed, why the Elites, amongst others, only needed to spend time with certain pokémon to understand their abilities.

"Thanks," Gary said, smiling as he slid his pokédex back into his pocket. "I'm Gary by the way."

The trainer nodded at him. "Sorrel." His lucario rose to its feet, towering over the both of them.

"So what brings you to Kanto?" Gary asked. Even he was uncertain why he felt the need to keep the trainer around, but there was just _something_ about him that made Gary feel like he would be missing out were he to just let him leave.

"Lucario and I are interested in the mythical and legendary pokémon," Sorrel said. He moved out of the way as people inched past them to reach more lockers, yet never once broke eye contact with Gary. "All myths and legends have some truth in them, after all."

There was something in the way he said it, a _conviction_ that stopped Gary from snorting and dismissing the notion instantly. There were always rumours about mythical pokémon, about titans stronger than any people could hope to defeat. Each country had their own mythology and Kanto was no different. The personifications of storms, blizzards and fire were constant features around festival time, decorating pots, tapestries and clothing.

Gary had always assumed they were capable of being explained away scientifically. Only as he locked eyes with the trainer did he truly begin to doubt for the first time.

"That sounds like it'd be amazing to figure out," he said, not dishonestly. "I'd love to read about something like that."

"Maybe a publication, eventually. Until then, we're content simply assuaging our curiosity." He shared a look with the lucario that seemed almost as if they were having a complete conversation. "And what of you, Gary? What do you intend to do?"

"Become the Champion."

Sorrel smiled, just a little. "And after that?"

"Change the world, for the better," Gary answered.

"And after that?"

Gary faltered. "What do you mean?"

Sorrel pulled free his own pokedex and showed Gary the display. Gary felt his breath catch. The trainer had no less than _thirty_ badges, all from different regions, some of which Gary had never heard of.

"Being a Champion doesn't mean that you can't have other interests," he said as he placed the pokédex back in his pocket. "Cynthia of Sinnoh is an archaeologist and a historian. Steven of Hoenn is a meteorologist. Even Lance, here in Kanto, works with the police as a sorts of detective. A person is defined by more than their ability as a trainer. Think of how the world is changed with the dawn of new information."

"I…" For once, Gary was at a loss for words. He closed his mouth as he shook his head. "I guess I haven't thought that far ahead."

"My advice?" Sorrel glanced at his Lucario and smiled. "Never have only one goal. Have as many dreams as you can keep hold of. Maybe one day you'll discover that your happiness may come from something you never considered."

"Thanks," Gary whispered. "And here I came just to look at some history, not get advice for the future."

"It's only by learning from the past that we can build a better future." Sorrel tucked his hands into the pockets on his shirt, reminding Gary very much of several technicians in his grandpa's lab. "It was good talking to you, Gary. I wish you well for your travels."

"You too," Gary said, feeling somewhat mollified. His mind was in a black hole of swirling emotions as the other trainer exited the locker room. He tried to play off the conversation as nothing, but found that he kept zipping back to one key point.

He had never considered what life would be like after he rid the world of Team Rocket. Was it enough to be a Champion?

Once he had thought that Daisy was giving up on a trainer's life. When she had returned home to Pallet to open her own pokémon salon, he had decided that she had flaked out on achieving greatness. Auntie Aggie and Grandpa had both dominated the world with their skills and abilities. Though they were both experts in their fields, Gary had always assumed that had happened as a result of their prowess as trainers.

"Huh," Gary grunted. For the first time, he found himself at a loss with what to do with himself.

He decided that it was _not_ a feeling he enjoyed.


	6. Infestation - I

James had always suffered with a fear of people in positions of power.

It was Father's fault, as were most of his problems. As a child the idea of being a disappointment was akin to a primordial fear. Even though he was an adult, he still felt like a child looking for the approval of someone bigger, older, or with more power.

Which was why he tried his best to remain calm as he sat on the plush, white leather hands were clammy, his brow matted with sweat. He attempted to blow his head dry, but it only served to move the beads of sweat further down his head.

Framed microscopic photographs of the pokérus decorated the steel walls. He could follow them from right to left, from initial infection, all the way through to the virus having overtaken the host. The final framed picture was a photo of what was once a human, though the pokérus had mutated them beyond all recognition. Their skin had turned several different colours. Their jaw bone had mutated to split open into rows of fangs. They were clearly dead, though James doubted that they had died painlessly.

As the automatic steel doors opposite him opened, James swallowed the lump in his throat. He entered the room without a guide, surprised to find that for once, there was no peanut gallery audience waiting in the shadows. The lack of grunts standing guard made him paradoxically nervous and calm.

Archer was behind his desk, head down, gaze focused on the many, _many _reports beneath him. The harsh lights reflected off the man's head, where his receding hair failed to cover. With a drawn out sigh, he leaned back in his chair, templing his fingers together and pressing them beneath his chin.

"Sit," he said, gesturing to one of the rich, red velvet chairs opposite him. James bowed before obeying. As he took his seat, James was very aware of the way Archer stared at him, much like a vullaby would observe dying prey. His prominent Adam's Apple, combined with the way his eyes seemed to be small and beady only further sold the illusion.

"As I understand it, Agent, you worked with Professor Namba previously, researching the potential for further evolutions in pokémon."

"Y-yes," James said, nodding quickly. The man in question was an ego-maniac, determined to use everyone and everything around him as a way to boost his own standing, to make himself look better.

If he had half a mind for talking to people as if they were something more than his lackeys, he would have far greater resources to work with. As it was, working with him was akin to pulling out your own teeth with rusty pliers, then having someone else claim the rewards.

"I did, though the results were rather… inconclusive."

Or more that Namba, in a fit of rage at a professor in Kalos being credited with discovering a wide array of further evolutions, had destroyed the lab and wasted months' worth of research.

"Yes," Archer said, his tone curt. "As it so happens, we may have a chance to recover some of that information that was otherwise inconclusive. Your name came recommended to me, Agent, as did the two others that you work with."

"S-sir?"

"We have received reports from a trusted source that the _ZetaFlare_ operation may have been compromised," Archer said.

The words hung in the air like daggers placed above his head, ready to strike. James nodded slowly. He swallowed heavily, as understanding dawned as to why they would want Jessie and Meowth there too.

"I'm not familiar with the project personally, sir, but is it too bold of me to assume that you've called me here to see what I know?"

The way Archer smiled sent chills racing down James' spine. It served only to remind him once again how very out of his comfort zone he truly felt. When he had signed up, he had been young and naive, eager to change the world and prove his father wrong.

In only a few short years he had risen up the ranks, but the compromises to his morality and ability to sleep at night often felt like he had chosen the wrong pathway.

"That's what I like about you, Agent," Archer said, sneering as he folded his hands on the desk. "You know your place, and yet you still manage to take charge of a conversation in a manner most wouldn't recognise." He held a hand up before James could voice his protests that _no_, he would never think of doing such a thing. "It _is_ part of your training, after all. No, I called you here because I have other plans." He reached into a desk drawer and presented a small data stick, no bigger than James' thumb, painted an indiscriminate black. "This is the first step in your operation, Agent. The names on here are all people with periods of time that are unaccounted for. All of them are due to work on a project that I _personally_ will be overseeing."

Archer tapped the data stick before folding back into his chair, like a coiled arbok ready to strike. "Take the information on there and use whatever methods necessary to determine who is guilty of what. It would appear that the Kalosians may have profited from our deals in ways that we had not previously agreed upon."

James nodded as he reached out to take the flash drive, breathing slowly through his nose so that he could control his shaking hand. "Understood, sir. And if I'm unable to discover who the true culprit is?"

"Then I'll have all of them, _and you_ replaced."

James felt another lump rise in his throat. He managed to ignore it. "Understood, sir."

"And Agent?" Archer said as James began to stand. "When you do discover who the guilty party was, make certain to make an example of them. Your next mission depends on how well you handle this one."

**-0-0-0-**

Ash's blood was racing as he leaped forward to collect the poké ball. He swiped it from the grassy floor, grinning as he held it up to the light that filtered down between the tree leaves.

"Alright! I caught a caterpie!"

Pikachu bounced up to his shoulder. He was cheering, his cheeks dancing with electricity. Ash laughed as Pikachu nuzzled his cheeks against his face. The feeling of static energy rushed across his skin. Despite the hits he had taken, Pikachu seemed none the worse for wear. Ash took it as a good sign, that his pokémon was getting stronger and stronger day by day. Their training was paying off, they were catching new pokémon and soon they would get to Pewter city and be one gym badge closer to becoming a Master.

"That's nice." Misty's voice barely reached his ears. He spun round on the spot and found her stood on the carcass of an ancient tree trunk felled by lightning. He followed the electricity scars and traced the path that she would have used to climb up the tree that's width was easily taller than the both of them stood on each other's shoulders. "Just keep it over there, will you?" she asked, waving her hand to the horizon.

"_Misty_," Ash sighed, walking towards her. His shoes pressed gently into the soft, still wet dirt. Though they had waited out the rain in the ranger's station, he would have thought the extensive canopy would have blocked out most of the rain. When he looked up, he saw the sun trying pitifully to reach through a handful of gaps in the tree lines. What little light made it through meant that their path was illuminated by spotlights of golden orange, almost enticing them to follow it.

Misty had been entranced by it when she had first seen it. As far as Ash was concerned, stopping to stare at something that was pretty was such a girlish thing to do. However, he did have to agree with Misty - though he would _never _admit it - that the spotlights of sunshine was a beautiful sight. He made a mental note to return in late October, when the trees would have turned orange.

"Caterpie's not going to hurt you," Ash continued. Pikachu chimed in an answer. Misty, however, was not to be convinced. She remained rooted to the spot on her perch, as far away from the wildlife as possible. Ash sighed and shook his head. "They're just pokémon, Misty. Your crawdaunt is scarier than most things here." Reaching the base of the tree, he pressed a hand against the brittle bark and glanced up to her. "Why are you so scared of them, anyway?"

With a sigh, Misty began to climb down the tree. When she was close enough to the ground, she jumped the remaining distance, landing heavily, almost falling forwards. Arms windmilling, she managed to keep her balance and flashed Ash a smile, as if she had planned the show.

"It's stupid, really," she said, her face falling. She seemed to draw into herself, wrapping her arms around her body, as if she were cold. Nestled in the bright red hoodie that seemed too large on her, like she was wearing her father's clothes, Ash doubted that it was a feeling of cold that made her hug herself, especially because the post-rain humidity was already starting to make itself known. Pikachu already smelled like a combination of wet fur and sweat, and Ash knew that soon enough, he would be a dripping mess once the tropical heat returned.

"When I was little, like 'barely able to walk little', I was in the gym with my parents. There was a challenge that came in to battle my dad. My mom had me on her lap so we could watch. This was before the safety fields were properly designed and maintained by the porygon programme, so Dad had his slowbro produce one when it wasn't battling.

"Anyway," she said, plucking a stone from the ground. She threw it as far as she could. Ash winced, having flashbacks to the flock of _angry _spearow. "Mom and I were in the stands watching. I don't remember anything about the challenger, but I remember his pokémon. It wasn't something my parents were familiar with - I remember my dad asking what it was. Whatever it was, I've still not seen it myself. I've looked and I can't find any record of it anywhere! It was big and purple with these big, angry red eyes."

She shuddered once more, her focus elsewhere. "It looked like it had a cannon on its back, almost like a blastoise. Whatever this pokémon was, the trainer couldn't control it. It smashed through my dad's team with no effort. When it was done with that, it just didn't stop. It went after his slowbro, knocked that out and came after my dad." Ash watched her close her eyes and her skin lose several shades of colour. "I remember my mom screaming. My dad tried acting quickly and the trainer tried recalling it, but he was too slow. The pokémon, whatever it was, smashed my father into the walls of his own gym. I remember the sounds of its cannon powering up; the electricity crackling as it built up power. My mom put me down on the seats and jumped into the battleground herself. She broke both her ankles doing that, but she stole the poké ball off the trainer and recalled the pokémon before it could finish its attack.

"Dad was in hospital for over a month," she continued, opening her eyes. Ash saw the tears in her eyes and felt guilty for ever asking. "Mom was on crutches and my eldest sister Daisy ended up taking over a lot of the gym battles whilst they were healing."

Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulders and raced to her, standing up and pressing his paws against her legs. She laughed as she bent down to pick him up, cradling him gently. "I've hated bugs ever since," she confessed. "Stupid really, isn't it?"

"That's not stupid," Ash said. Awkwardly, he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. "It's amazing that you can even look at bugs after that."

"Oh, shut up," she grunted, shoving him with her free hand. Momentarily stunned, Ash felt the anger rise in his chest as quickly as the red attacked his face. "Thanks," she added quickly, quietening his anger for a moment. He took a second to look at her face - to _really _look at it. She was _blushing_.

Belatedly, he recalled Gary's advice. _Oh_, he thought, feeling the light bulb switch on in his mind. _She doesn't like showing weakness. If she thinks I pity her, that's weakness._

"I was being honest," he said, brushing himself down. Pikachu leapt from her arms and climbed back onto his shoulder. "Seriously Mist, I don't know if I could do something like that. Nothing more!" he added, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Just drop it, Ketchum," she growled, turning her head away. "Sorry for shoving you." She took a deep breath and looked skyward. "Honestly though, I'm glad you're here with me. I was going to come here on my own anyway, but it's nice having someone here with me. Even if that someone happens to be _you_."

"Hey!" Ash shouted indignantly.

"Kidding," she said quickly, giggling. "I know it's something I need to get past. There's a few pokémon out there that are both bugs and aquatic. I can't truly call myself a water pokémon master if I ignore them. That said, the next bug pokémon we see is mine, Ketchum."

"Huh?" he grunted, confused. "I thought you wanted to be a water master?"

"Of course I do," she grunted, almost like he had offended her. "But I'm not stupid, Ash. I know I need to have some experience with diversifying my team. Look at the Elites - Lorelei is an ice master, but she has a slowbro, a wigglytuff and an exeggutor. Agatha has an arbok and a golbat and she's a master with ghosts."

"I guess that makes sense," Ash admitted. "I never thought of it like - hey there's one now!"

He pointed to the pokémon, grinning as he saw the way Misty spun around and froze to the spot upon seeing it. The pokémon was small, standing no taller than the caterpie he had just captured. Though small in height, it was incredibly long, with what seemed to be hundreds of legs hidden beneath its blood red carapace. It turned its yellow eyes to look at them, red antennae twitching, secreting something black and foul-smelling.

"What even is that?" Ash asked - it certainly looked nothing like pokémon that were usually found in Kanto. When he pointed his pokédex at it, the machine confirmed it for him - it was a venipede, native to the e_xtremely _distant Unova. "Aw," Ash muttered, placing his pokédex back in his pocket. "I want one."

"Tough tomatoes, Ketchum," Misty said, flexing her arms. For a moment, Ash had the mental image of her wrestling the pokémon herself. Honestly, he almost half-expected it. "I said I was going to catch the first one I saw and I'm not going back on my word! Acacia!" Snatching a ball from her belt, she threw it behind the pokémon, startling it with the sudden appearance of a starmie behind it.

"Stun it!" she cried. Her starmie made a sound like nothing Ash had ever heard before. Golden sparks of electricity danced over its bright red gem. He felt his eyes widen. He had _no idea _water pokémon could use electric moves.

The venipede shrieked as the electricity stunned it. Ash watched the way it seemed to slow, its legs suddenly less responsive. At Misty's command her starmie's gem throbbed with a pulsing, purple hue. The bug, already stunned by electricity, shrieked again as the same purple colour surrounded it. It shot into the air like an invisible hand had plucked it from the ground. Squeaking, its legs scrambled for anything solid to stand on. Surrounded by purple, it began to spin, faster and _faster _until Ash felt sick just watching it. Even Pikachu moaned in sympathetic horror.

The purple glow faded from its body. The pokémon shrieked again as gravity took hold, bringing it back down to earth.

Ash was certain he saw it sigh in relief when the poké ball smacked against its forehead. The light dimmed instantly, signalling the capture.

Ash had no clue his jaw was literally hanging open until Pikachu pressed his paws against his chin, closing his mouth for him. Stunned, he found that he could only clap appreciatively as Misty collected her new pokémon's ball.

"How?" he managed to ask as she returned to his side, scanning the ball with her own pokédex. He noticed she had painted it with what appeared to be nail polish and chose not to comment on it. "That was… I don't even know. How did you manage that?"

Misty giggled as she placed both poké ball and pokédex into her bag. "I've been a trainer a lot longer than you, Ash. Sometimes battles aren't about who can hit fastest and hardest. Sometimes it's easier to keep your opponents off balance - literally as it might be."

"I guess I've got even more to learn than I thought," Ash whispered, thinking. As they followed the dirt path through the woods, worn by so many travellers' feet before them, he found his thoughts going less to his pokémon and more towards the gaping hole in his stomach. "Hey Misty, we should break for lunch," he said, before his stomach could announce its opinion.

Shielding her face with her hand, Misty glanced skyward. "Yeah, I guess we should." She glanced around quickly before pointing to a small clearing. "How about over there?"

Ash followed her gesture, noting the way the earth seemed to have been scorched. "Looks like something was using a lot of fire there recently."

"Seems like it," Misty said, already moving. "That just means whatever lives nearby should still be thinking twice about venturing back there. As far as I'm aware there aren't any bugs that can wield fire, so we should be safe."

"Sure," Ash said, following after her. "I can let out my team and introduce them to caterpie. In fact, I'll do that now."

"Stop!" Misty shrieked, grabbing his hand before he could call any of his pokémon. Glancing quickly at her hand, she let go of his, almost throwing it back to him. "Think about it, Ketchum. What do you think your hoothoot eats?"

He scratched his head behind his ear, beneath the rim of his cap. "Um, seeds?"

She sighed and smacked her forehead. "Ash, your hoothoot is a _predator_. Birds generally eat small bugs like caterpie. If you want to introduce them to each other, you'll have to talk to your hoothoot first."

"Oh," Ash said. He felt the back of his neck burn in embarrassment. He really should have thought of that. Though when he put his mind to it, he honestly had never spent much time thinking about what his pokémon ate when they were in the wild. He had just assumed they lived off a diet of berries and nuts. "I guess, yeah. I'll do that. Misty-"

"If its eyes are on the side of its head, assume it's a prey animal," she said, answering his question before he had even asked it. She kicked the ground around a stump on the floor, checking it for anything untoward before she placed her bag down upon it. "Eyes on the side of their heads mean that they can look in more than one direction for a predator. Things with eyes on the front of their head - like humans - are predators. That's because they don't look for ambushes behind them."

"Thanks," Ash grunted, looking at Pikachu as he scampered over the grass. Noticing just where his pokémon's eyes were, he tried _not _to think about wild pokémon preying on him. Instead he placed his backpack on the ground and called out his hoothoot. She fluttered down and rested on his bag, alternating the foot she stood on every few minutes. Ash squatted down and ran a hand down along her flank, able to feel the increased weight. She looked more like the pictures of her species said she should, rather than the almost skeletal creature he had captured.

"Hey girl," Ash said, holding out a pellet of food for her. She trilled happily, taking it gently from his fingers. He continued to pet her head as she ate, glancing at Pikachu out of the corner of his eye. His starter had apparently sought Misty for attention and was getting thoroughly spoilt. Ash snorted as he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his hoothoot. "Two, well three things, really. I was going to call out Mankey too, but I wanted to have you help me talk to him again. Is that okay?"

His pokémon trilled again, fluffing her wings. He took that as a yes. Grinning, he continued, "Awesome. Second thing is that I wanted to tell you I caught a new pokémon; a caterpie."

He watched his pokémon's eyes for any hint of anything untoward. Though he saw nothing, he also was very aware of how little time they had spent together so far. With Misty's warning so fresh in his mind, he was not about to take chances.

"Obviously he's a teammate, so he's off limits." Ash rubbed his thumb between his pokémon's eyes, at the base of her clock hand-like eyebrows. "I guess I've never asked about your eating habits otherwise, so if you want to hunt something when we're camped or overnight, just let me know, okay?"

In response, his pokémon fluffed up her body, shuddering as she returned back to normal size. Ash gathered that her time living in the wild had been tough - her golden colouring would have made hunting at night especially hard. He assumed her response was something along those lines - a comment about hunting being a harder way to be fed.

"Last thing I wanted to ask was about a name for you," Ash said, still petting her. Glancing back at Pikachu, making sure he was still there, Ash felt his hoothoot look up at him. "I know last time you didn't like anything I suggested, so I've got new ideas." He turned back to her and sat cross-legged on the floor, unable to keep squatting any longer. He had tried to ignore the burning sensation for his legs for too long; sitting made him want to groan in relief.

He held out his palms, pointing them towards her. "I've got two ideas; Apollo and Athena." He indicated his left hand for the former, his right for the latter. "They're both to do with gods of knowledge - I thought it would suit, with you being so smart and all." He smiled, laughing when she fluttered up and rubbed her cheek against his nose. "Now, Apollo is more of a boy's name," he said, guiding the hoothoot back to his bag. "Athena is a girl's name." He held his hands out again. "If you like either of them, peck this hand for Apollo, this hand for Athena. If you don't like either of them, just turn around and I'll think about them again."

Honestly, he doubted that his pokémon would like either of the names he had chosen. It was difficult enough to think of anything that was not a pun based around the pokémon's name.

So he was pleasantly surprised when she pecked his left hand.

"Apollo, huh?" he asked, rubbing her feathers. She trilled once more, leaping into his lap. Ash laughed and retrieved another pellet of food from his bag for her. "Alright then, Apollo it is. If you ever decide you don't like it, let me know and we'll think about changing it." He stood, causing her to squawk and take flight, hovering around his eye level. Still smiling, he grabbed his mankey's poké ball and called him out.

Having learnt from experience, Ash made certain that he had a pellet of food ready for the pokémon. As the light from the ball faded his mankey began to stretch, though stopped the moment it noticed the treat waiting in Ash's hand. It snatched it greedily, leaping back as if Ash may take it from it and happily ate the whole thing in one gulp.

"Hey Mankey," Ash said. Apollo fluttered over to his other pokémon, remaining airborne until the mankey held out an arm for her to land on. She landed gently by his shoulder, holding on in a manner that Ash could tell was gentler than the way she dug her talons into his clothes.

Glancing backwards, Ash saw Misty returning to their makeshift camp with an armful of firewood. He realised that he had never even noticed her leaving. The guilt he felt amplified when he saw Pikachu following behind her, carrying an armful of twigs, struggling with the weight and walking on his hind legs.

"Before we help set up camp, I wanted to talk to you quickly," Ash said. He paused for a moment, letting Apollo keep up with her translation. "I thought of two possible names for you, if you still want them." Grabbing a rock, Ash began to carve the names into the dirt. He wanted to see just how much information his pokémon was retaining. "The first one is Sun," he said. "It's based on a legend about a creature like you getting made into a god of martial arts." He grinned at the way his pokémon's eyes lit up at that. Before he could even explain the other name, his pokémon pointed to the name, hooting and beating his chest, displacing Apollo.

"You've decided already?" Ash asked, laughing. "Alright! That was easier than I thought it was going to be." He reached into his bag, grabbed another pellet of food and tossed it to Sun. He caught it deftly, though this time he broke it in half, sharing it with Apollo, who had settled back down onto Sun's arm. "Awesome! Now I really should help set up camp."

He made certain to grab his bag before he ran after Misty, not trusting Sun anywhere near the bag full of goodies. The last thing Ash wanted was to turn his back and discover his pokémon had eaten all his food.

Again.

Misty was _never _going to know that he had to purchase all his provisions again before they left, all because he had been too busy celebrating his battle against Gary to notice Sun had eaten everything in his bag.


	7. Infestation - II

Horror stories always started with a descent below ground.

James swallowed the lump in his throat. Viridian Forest was unbelievably humid. He could feel the sweat already dripping down his back. Above, the dense canopy of trees was crawling with wildlife.

The ruins of a pokémon centre opened up before them. A glance told James everything he needed to know - and more. The wildlife had moved in to reclaim that which was built in their domain. The storeroom doors were still locked, despite the walls themselves having been long reduced to rubble. The grass had reached up to break and claim back the centre's tiled floors. Weedle grubs feasted on piles of dead and rotting leaves. Bird nests were atop the broken walls, destroyed and abandoned.

In the remains of what once was a reception area, instead there was now a staircase leading down. The walls beside it were covered in honeycomb holes, from which large, pale, wriggling grubs could be seen within.

James was aware of Jessie by his side, her hand on her blade. She seemed paler than normal. The glances she gave the walls made him think she was either nervous around the pokémon or the structure. If it were the former, she could not be blamed for being averse to beedrill.

Meowth was resting on James' back, his claws digging into James' shoulders. His explanation had been a simple, 'I ain't getting my paws all sticky.'

There was a constant droning sound from the bottom of the stairs. Weedle slithered out, across the ground, the walls and even the broken ceiling. Kakuna were wrapped tightly against the walls. More than one beedrill flew past them, mercifully uncaring to their presence.

"_Finally_ I have the fools I requisitioned _months ago!"_

There seemed to be a sudden pressure in the air around Jessie. James glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes to see that her fists were quickly being unballed.

"His reputation was right then," she muttered.

"Oh you have _no_ idea," James said, sighing. He looked down and saw the living nightmare he endured for what felt like an eternity. Even in the middle of the forest, he was still wearing a somehow pristinely white lab coat. Beneath it he wore a black turtleneck, and he seemed completely unfazed by the heat. It only added to James' theory that the man was secretly a demon in disguise. "Professor Number, it's good to see you again."

"That's _Namba_, you incompetent _nitwit!"_

James could feel the way Meowth was laughing into his back. "Of course sir. My apologies." It was petty, childish, really. However, getting his own back on the man, no matter in how small a way, made James feel lightheaded and giddy. "We're here on behalf of Archer, sir, not as your workers. It would appear that several mission-critical pieces of information have not remained as secret as we would have liked. We're here to investigate how this happened. I assume that you had nothing to do with this?"

Namba turned the same colour as his lab coat. He glanced between the two of them, and James noticed the way his eyes rested on Jessie's knife before he swallowed. "No, of course not! Do you really think that I would let anyone else share in _my_ glory?"

If there was a chance for glory, James knew from experience, as did many, that Namba would take every opportunity to screw over anyone in his way. He was, however, deeply loyal to Team Rocket. It was about the only positive about the man.

Still, James was not about to pass up any opportunity to make the man sweat.

"Of course," James said, plastering a smile on his face, "in that case, I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling us what you're doing down here, and what exactly _ZetaFlare_ may have discovered thus far?"

"Tell _you_?" Namba sneered. He turned on his heel, lab coat fluttering behind him. "I'd have an easier time teaching the local aipom calculus. But _fine_!" He stalked into the honeycomb-laden corridor beneath the pokémon centre's ruins, grumbling loudly.

"Well," Jessie said, a smirk on her face, "he's just a _delight_."

"As delightful as diarrhoea," Meowth added.

"Trust me, that's better," James said, sighing. "I suffered working with him for _far_ too long. The beedrill here aren't the most poisonous creatures around."

"Ordinarily I'd feel the need to jump in and defend any poisonous beauty," Jessie said. James saw the way she was watching all the beedrill that flew between honeycomb holes further in. Originally he had thought she was just threat assessing, maybe trying to assuage her own fears. When he looked closer, he could see a great deal of _longing_ in her eyes. He should have expected as much, really. She had practically _squealed_ when she first saw his victreebel and weezing. He had even found her later that night, when he had woken to use the bathroom, gushing directly over the pokémon, acting very much like a stereotypical small girl with something pretty.

"But _that_ man," she continued, drawing James back to reality, "some people have faces that just look like they need punching. His entire _existence_ needs a swift kick to the testicles." She sighed. "I bet he's the sort of person who would clone himself to create children, because no one else would ever be good enough to 'carry his seed'."

"We had a theory he was more of a Hojo," James said. "A game," he explained at both Jessie and Meowth's curious looks. "I'll get you both to play it some time. Right now, as much as I _really_ would rather be anywhere else, I suppose we have to suffer with his presence for a little longer."

James lead them down the corridor. His boots _crunched_ the desiccated remains of what he told himself were just other insects. The buzzing sound grew louder and louder, until it was almost all that he could hear. The walls were covered in holes that had kakuna gestating inside. Beedrill drones flew in and out of the empty holes, covered in honey.

"I'm studying the beedrill," Namba said, drawing out each word. "Attempting to understand why they're so much more powerful here, of all locations. I theorise that it's something to do with the queen."

At the end of the corridor was a large chamber that once may have been used as a storehouse. Instead now it was filled with beedrill. They droned at such volumes that James was certain his teeth were vibrating. There was a pressure to the air that made it almost impossible to breathe properly. Each inhale made it feel like his lungs were filling with pollen and dust.

In the middle of the room, covered in thick honey and slime, was a large beedrill. It had no wings, but was the size of a bus. Beedrill brought honey from the walls to the queen.

Each of her stingers were the size of a car. They were no longer sharp, but they were leaking a thick, purple substance that _smelt_ like death. Her eyes were half-white, and her exoskeleton appeared to be peeling.

There were boots on the floor. Standard grunt-issue. James tried not to think about why they had been abandoned.

Beneath the queen, James could see a large mineral deposit. It was golden and striped with black, almost like the patterns of a beedrill.

"The _morons_ I've been assigned to help on this project are working from a laboratory we've recently acquired in Viridian. Unless you're going to assist me here, go bother them there." Namba looked up at the queen and pulled a tablet free from a pocket of his lab coat. "If you're going to poke around here, be quiet or hurry up and be cocooned by one of the blasted insects. I could do with the data."

"Of course, sir," James said. If it were down to him, he would feed the man to the beedrill, record it and share it to everyone that had ever suffered with the man. Instead he settled for getting to watch him sweat as he said, "Of course, we'll have questions for you too. If there are leaks from your team, it stands to reason that they stem from a lack of proper oversight and management. And I would _hate_ to see _you_ held accountable just because you weren't supervising your staff properly."

He turned and left before Namba could think of a good enough retort. James was glad for the chance to escape - seeing the queen had left his skin crawling. He was certain he knew what she was sitting on, and what Archer's team intended with it. He wanted to be no part of it. The moment they tried to disturb her, all hell would break loose.

"So," Jessie said conversationally, "are we going to this magical laboratory, or are we just feeding him to a bellsprout and watching him suffer?"

James smiled. "Business first, pleasure later. I truly doubt he's guilty, but I can hold out hope for him to suffer."

"Wow Jimbo, I don't think I've ever seen you wanting someone's guts. He _must_ be something horrible to get under your skin."

"Let's just say he reminds me of my family, and leave it at that."

**-0-0-0-**

With a grunt, Ash slung his backpack over his shoulder. He was surprised at how familiar the weight felt already. The days where it felt like he was carrying another person on his back seemed like a distant, horrible memory.

As he kicked dirt over the remains of their campfire, Pikachu bounced up and sat atop his backpack, resting his forepaws on Ash's head.

"Not that I mind, but you should probably think about walking every so often," Ash said, laughing at the disgruntled noise Pikachu made in response. "If you keep riding on me, you'll get fat."

Pikachu's offended cry made both Ash and Misty snort. Sighing as she stood up, Ash watched Misty spin on the spot, her hands on her hips. "I think that's everything," she said. "In fact-"

She stopped suddenly, tilting her head to the side.

"In fact what?" Ash asked. "Misty?" He waved a hand at her, surprised when she glared at him, smacking his hand away. "Misty?" he asked, whispering. "What's wrong?"

"I heard something," she said, frowning. "It sounded like another person, but I'm not sure."

"Other trainers? Awesome!"

"Oh Ash," Misty grunted, shaking her head. "I wish I had your optimism."

"What?" Genuinely confused, he reached underneath his cap and scratched his head.

"Nevermind," Misty sighed. "Come on." She shouldered her own backpack and began walking. "We've got daylight burning."

"But I want to see who this other trainer is," Ash said, pouting. "What if they're really strong? We could do with battling someone other than each other." At Misty's scowl he froze, his stomach seemingly doing flips. "Nevermind."

"No, you're right," Misty admitted. "I'm just being paranoid." Turning on her heel, she began to move further into the forest, away from the trodden path. She brushed away the creeping foliage with her gloved hands, apparently careful not to let any touch her bare skin.

With a smile Ash followed after her, trying to listen for any sounds of this other trainer. Pikachu chittered from atop his head, apparently also wondering who they would meet. As the trees felt like they began to close in around them, Ash noticed the way Misty began to slow down. The canopies above them stretched towards the heavens, blocking out more and more of the sunlight. The tree trunks, though thick and roughly the width of a car, seemed like they were growing thinner and twisting around them.

Ash pictured all sorts of horrors waiting for them. There were undoubtedly pokémon out there that could pretend to be trees, hidden in the forests, waiting to strike. His palms felt sweaty at the thought. He could see the way Misty was biting her bottom lip, sweat building on her brow. Abruptly he felt _horrible_ for forcing her into this. She was afraid of bugs and he, like the _genius _he was, convinced her to move further into their home territory.

"Hey, Misty," he whispered.

She held up a hand, stopping him from saying anything further. She turned and grabbed him, pulling him closer to her. He panicked, picturing something demonic out there, hunting them. He imagined the shadows contorting, ghoulish shapes running in the darkness, out for their blood.

"There," she said, nodding forwards.

Ash glanced where she had indicated and found that instead of some sort of demonic entity waiting for them, like he had thought, it was just a trainer not much older than them. His dark, sweat-stained skin glistened when the light caught it, highlighting the curvature of his muscles. Dressed in only a white vest and grey shorts, Ash saw that he had a _bokken_ in his hands, shaped into a katana. The boy stepped forwards, brandishing the sword at a _scyther_ of all things. The giant green insect was unlike anything Ash had ever seen - he had heard stories and seen it on the television, but actually _seeing _it was something else. It was tall - perhaps as tall as his mother - with a segmented body that was frighteningly human-like. The infamy of its species' arms were nothing compared to the real thing - they looked like sickles, curved and notched, able to slice into anything at a moment's notice. They seemed just as sharp as the knives in his mother's diner, though also as thin as scalpels.

_No wonder Misty is afraid of these_.

Ash swallowed the lump in his throat. Awed, he watched the boy before them strike at the scyther. The pokémon brushed aside the attack, coming in with a deadly scythe. Ash wanted to cry out - to warn the boy. Instead, the boy brought his wooden sword up, deflecting the blow. The scyther beat its wings, hissing. The boy flicked his sword, spinning on the spot. He struck once, twice, three times. The pokémon blocked each of them with ease, launching its own counter. It jumped into the air, scythes descending like an executioner's blade from left and right.

The boy dropped to the floor and rolled beneath the blades. He sprang to his feet, _crunching _his sword against the back of the bug's legs. The scyther growled as it spun around, bladed arms moving so fast that the air _whistled._

The boy paled and held up his sword defensively. Soundlessly, the blades descended. Misty screamed. Ash scrunched his eyes shut. He heard Pikachu cry out.

There was a light _thunk_ as something hit the ground. Ash pictured the boy's head bouncing off his shoulders, hitting the grassy ground. Heavy footsteps began to walk towards them. Panicking, Ash was certain the scyther was after them next. He opened his eyes, ready to fight -

Only to find himself staring down the end of a broken - but still deadly - wooden sword.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded, a sneer on his face.

Ash stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment. Misty's hands were clung around his arm - Ash wondered just when that had happened. Try as he may, he could not recall her grabbing onto him.

"You're alive?" Ash whispered, surprised. Pikachu echoed him, confusion clear in his voice.

"Of course," the boy sneered, sword still brandished at them. Behind him, Ash saw the scyther still in the spot where they had been fighting - or perhaps sparring, if the boy was still in tact. "_Hatori_ is my pokémon. What better way to train our skills than against each other. Now-" he pointed the broken sword a fraction of an inch closer, "-what meaning do you have here, hiding in the bushes like some common scoundrel?"

"We heard the sounds of someone and came to investigate," Ash said quickly. "Then we saw you fighting your scyther and well, we thought you were _actually_ battling it."

The boy grunted, rolling his dark brown eyes in Misty's direction. "And what say you, girl?"

Misty _squeaked_. Ash saw her attention was held by the scyther. Her hands still clung to his arm, her nails digging into his skin almost hard enough to draw blood.

"She's afraid of bugs," Ash supplied. "And that scyther is _scary_."

The boy lowered his sword, turning up his nose at the both of them. "Very well. I suppose that I can extend the benefit of the doubt to you both today. I shall allow you to leave now, though be warned, I will not tolerate any foul, dishonourable acts."

The boy turned to leave, sliding the remains of his sword through a loop on his belt. As he moved away from them, Ash had a flash of inspiration.

"Hey, wait!" Ash cried, stepping after him. He smiled as the boy turned his head, glaring. "You're strong. I want a battle!"

The boy shook his head. "Battling you would be dishonourable. You are clearly beneath my caliber."

"Well _fine_," Ash growled, familiar with this arrogance. It was like dealing with Gary. "If you won't battle me, then I want to train with you instead!"

"What?!"

It was Misty that shrieked, letting go of his arm and whirling on him. "Ash Ketchum, are _you serious_?" Her skin was pale and covered in sweat. He could see the tremble in her chin and the way she positioned herself, so that she could still see the boy and his scyther from the corner of her eye. "Did you not see what he can do? What makes you think you can learn _anything_ like that?"

Blinking, Ash tried to understand just where she had gained that idea from. He pictured himself trying to battle his pokémon with a wooden sword and, unable to help himself, began to laugh. "Misty," he said, between laughs, "why would _I_ want to learn anything like that? I don't want to run around chasing after people with a sword - um, no offence," he added quickly, glancing at the boy. "I want to train my pokémon!"

"Oh," Misty whispered, deflating. "I guess… why am I even surprised?" She sighed and turned to face the boy. "Are you one of the rangers assigned to this section of the forest then?"

"Hardly," the boy said, sneering. "I do this to protect the weak. Young trainers need not face the depths of darkness these woods can hold - especially not now, so soon after the Pallet Town trainers have recently set off."

"Hey, that's where I'm from!" Ash said, smiling. "How do you know about us?"

The boy lowered his head as he sighed, pressing his fingertips to his temples. Ash watched as the boy's scyther moved to his side, never making a sound. "Pallet Town trainers start once a year, around this time - obviously recently, given your presence here. Gyms seem to rotate the dates when their trainers begin, which means that one must always be prepared. I guard these forests, both from the trainers that would seek to harm them, but also from the pokémon that would harm the trainers."

The boy looked up quickly, narrowing his gaze on Ash. "You, boy!" he yelled, pointing at him. "You say you come from Pallet Town. Let me ask you this; do you know of a Gary Oak?"

"_Gary?!"_ Ash yelled, moments before Misty echoed him. "How do you know him?" Ash asked.

The boy chuckled as he puffed out his chest. "I met Gary mere days ago - he had recently captured a young scyther."

"Gary has one of _those_?" Misty asked, staring in horror at the bug in question.

"He does," the boy confirmed. "He approached me for a battle, though more arrogantly than you did. I accepted, intrigued by the scyther with him. For one to submit to him, I thought he must be special, a truly strong trainer. Though I defeated him, unsurprisingly, it was when we pitted our scythers against each other that it became clear to me he knew not how to train the pokémon."

"Gary lost?" Ash tried to wrap his head around that. He knew it was cruel, but he found himself smiling at the thought of Gary being brought back down to earth.

"Indeed," said the boy. "Though I spent time with him, teaching him how to effectively train with his pokémon. Protecting new trainers from pokémon does not simply relate to these woods." With a grunt, the boy placed his hands on his hips and nodded. "Very well. You boy, Pallet trainer!"

"Me?" Ash said, pointing to himself.

"Yes, you," the boy growled. "I accept your request. I will train you."

"Awesome!" Ash cheered. Pikachu echoed his sentiments, leaping from his backpack over his head and onto the ground. "We're gonna get so strong!" He laughed as Pikachu jumped into his arms and grinned, spinning on the spot. "So what pokémon do you train anyway?"

The boy smiled, suddenly standing taller. "I am a trainer of the most excellent type of pokémon there are - I exclusively train bug pokémon!"

Misty groaned. "Of course you do," she muttered as she buried her face in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she puffed out her chest and marched up to the scyther, glaring up at its face. "_You_," she snarled at it. The scyther looked down its nose at her and suddenly all the composure vanished from Misty's face. "You scare me," she whimpered.

"Hatori is a gentle companion," the boy said, almost chidingly so. Looking between the two of them, Ash felt almost like he was sizing them up, judging them for even the smallest of body movements. "You may call me Samurai, for that is what I wish to become - a true, noble, nameless samurai, known only for the worth of his blade, the skill of his-"

"Alright, we get it," Misty interrupted, waving her hand at him. "Look, I'm Misty, that's Ash. We both recently caught bugs and to be honest, neither of us know how to train them."

Ash opened his mouth to say something, though the look Misty threw at him made him understand in no uncertain terms that he was to let her do the talking.

"I train water pokémon," she continued, smiling suddenly. "As you've noticed, I don't like bugs, so I thought the best way to get over that fear, or at least get used to it, would be to train one myself."

"A noble goal," Samurai said.

"Yeah," Misty said, her tone implying what she thought of his opinion. "I've got two pokémon that are weak to bugs, so if you're truly willing to help, I think that we need the foundations to build something upon. Of course, I'll teach you how to handle water pokémon in return - I imagine round here that's not something you often have to deal with."

"This is true. The squirtles I have faced from Pallet Town trainers have usually caught me off-guard. Very well!" he declared, nodding. He grabbed the pommel of his _bokken_ and to Ash's surprise, flipped open the bottom of it like a lid, revealing a hidden compartment inside. He flipped the five poké balls that emerged into his palm and replaced his sword before calling forth his other pokémon.

Ash's eyes widened at the team before him. Scanning them all with his pokédex, he had to admit that he was impressed. Misty had remained rooted to the spot when five more bugs had appeared, though Ash decided it was probably through sheer stubbornness rather than fear at this point. She froze as Samurai's butterfree perched gently on her shoulder and seemed almost like she was about to faint when his pinsir stood next to the scyther, conversing in guttural hisses.

Like most trainers, Ash knew to be fearful and respectful around beedrill. Samurai's own pokémon was no different. The pokémon was a bright yellow, reminding Ash of custard. As it flew up into a nearby tree and waited there, watching them, Ash imagined it as a traffic light conducting the traffic.

Samurai's heracross remained by his side, standing as tall as him, horn not included. The giant blue bug had a shell that seemed to Ash like it was almost made of iron and its arms, though thin, like all bugs, had an undeniable curvature of muscle. Samurai's last pokémon was a curious thing - a large red mushroom from which several spindly, almost _withered_ legs emerged. When Ash bent down to look at it, he felt his stomach drop out of his body and his blood turn cold. The pokémon's eyes were white, glazed over. It was less blind and more _dead_. The pokédex had provided him with enough of a warning, though seeing it brought all manner of existential questions into Ash's mind.

"Now begin with your bug pokémon," Samurai instructed them. He waved a hand in a strange way - a gesture that Ash had no hope of understanding the meaning behind. Yet all of Samurai's pokémon - even the undead-like parasect - indicated their acknowledgement.

Ash went first, calling out his caterpie. Samurai's face blossomed in a smile instantly as he crouched down and held out an arm for the bug to crawl up. Sensing something good about the other trainer, Ash's caterpie trilled a happy noise and began to crawl up his arm.

"I just caught him recently," Ash said, suddenly feeling scrutinised as Samurai began to inspect the caterpie's feelers. "I have a hoothoot as well, so I've really just been trying to get them used to each other and understand that no one is going to be eating each other."

"A wise decision," Samurai said, though his attention was enraptured by the caterpie. Smiling as it began to crawl across his shoulders, he chuckled as his butterfree fluttered over and rested atop his head, watching the new pokémon with interest. "And now your turn," he said, turning to Misty.

Ash noticed the way she had relaxed when the butterfree had moved from her shoulder, though now she had to call out her new pokémon, the tension seemed to return back to her shoulders. It was almost as if someone had placed her on a pole like a scarecrow, leaving her stiff and unable to move properly. She called forth her venipede with none of her usual fervour, flinching as it looked over at her questioningly.

"Interesting," Samurai whispered, crouching once more. Ash saw the way all of the boy's pokémon seemed to take an interest in the new bug, as if it were an unusual sight. "You very rarely see these in Kanto - I myself have only seen a few in my lifetime." He held out an arm for it and like Ash's own caterpie, Misty's venipede crawled up the boy's arm.

"Very good," Samurai said, standing. He looked very much like a Halloween decoration, stood there with two creepy crawlies on his arms and a butterfree atop his head. "Now, release your other pokémon. We will have them spar with mine so that we can understand how best to proceed. Meanwhile, I will educate you both on bug pokémon, so you will both need to keep your bugs with you."

Ash nodded, smiling as he took caterpie back off the boy. His pokémon made a happy sound as it slithered up Ash's arm, leaving the skin tingling from his movements. Ash laughed, petting the pokémon's head gently, careful to not touch the feeler on its head. Misty meanwhile, though she moved to stand by Ash's side, let her venipede curl up on the ground, apparently reluctant to touch it.

When Ash and Misty called out the rest of their pokémon, Samurai looked at them all in turn, nodding to himself.

"Very good," he said, sounding like a teacher grading their homework. "I have seen already some rivalries building. Ash, your mankey would be best sparring with my heracross. Your hoothoot should go with my butterfree, to learn how to combat other fliers. I think that your pikachu and Misty's poliwag should focus on my parasect. Misty, your crawdaunt would benefit battling my pinsir. I think your starmie and vaporeon should start with my scyther and your totodile with my beedrill. Does this sound agreeable to all of you?"

Ash tried to run it through his mind, understanding the reasons. The heracross was a fighter, much like his mankey. That seemed obvious, like his hoothoot sparring with the butterfree in the air. He guessed that the parasect could endure hits and was incredibly slow, so Samurai was probably choosing fast, long-ranged attackers to train his own pokémon too. No doubt the physical powerhouses of crawdaunt and pinsir were suited to each other, and he imagined that the totodile was a fast, physical attacker, much like a beedrill.

"How comes starmie and vaporeon against the scyther?" he asked.

"Hatori is a physical, fast combatant," Samurai explained. "My only pokémon focused on long range attacking is my butterfree. I imagine this situation will be best for our pokémon - though both starmie and vaporeon are fast, my scyther is faster. He excels at close quarters, they prosper at distance fighting. To truly be a strong battler, a pokémon must be capable of fighting in any circumstances."

"It makes sense to me," Misty said, nodding. "You heard him," she called to her pokémon. "Find somewhere safe and _spar_, okay? I don't want any injuries; this isn't a real battle - yes that means you, Quill," she added, glaring at her totodile. In response, the pokémon opened its mouth and made a chortling sound. "That pokémon," she said, sighing.

"I guess that means you guys find your sparring partners too," Ash said. Sun had already decided not to wait - he and the heracross had moved some distance away and were throwing punches and kicks at each other faster than Ash could follow. Apollo took off after the butterfree, hooting at it as they weaved between the tree branches. Pikachu looked at Ash as if he was certain about everything, then glanced at the parasect with obvious unease.

The _thing_ \- Ash found it hard to think of it as a pokémon - made some sort of unearthly sound as it began to move, its entire body teetering as it walked. Pikachu grunted something Ash failed to understand as he moved away, sharing a look with Misty's poliwag that Ash knew was a comment towards the creepy pokémon.

"Good," Samurai said, clapping his hands together. "Now my students, you may sit and take notes."

With a roll of her eyes, Misty sat on the grassy floor, crossing her legs as she swung her backpack around and began to hunt for a notebook. Apparently giving up on that, she instead pulled out her phone and her pokédex.

Following suit, Ash pulled free his own pokédex and opened a blank text program. Before Samurai could say anything, Ash quickly typed in his first idea - _research bug pokémon, their moves and battle strategies._

"Good," Samurai said, his hands behind his back. "Now, I will teach you the first thing that I learnt about bug moves. To help teach your pokémon new abilities, you must understand them yourself. Many advanced techniques for attack revolve around pokémon manipulating energy. Some are more obvious - fire, ice, electricity. Bug moves are skilled in their execution, requiring precision and correct training."

Ash nodded, noting it all down. He glanced behind Samurai and saw their pokémon battling, though it was clear that Samurai's pokémon were mostly humouring his. With Misty's they seemed to be giving as good as they could get - he saw Samurai's scyther darting between streams of water, moving so fast it was almost a blur.

"Now, I want you both to put your pokémon in your laps."

Ash did so without thinking, taking caterpie from his shoulders and moving awkwardly to place the bug on his legs. He felt the hair on the back of his head stand up where the caterpie had moved, and his legs had the same strange itchy feeling as before. He saw that Misty, however, had practically frozen to the spot.

"My pokémon's poisonous," she pointed out. "I don't know how to grab it and not poison myself."

For a horrible moment Ash felt like he had failed a test. He should have checked something like that first instead of blindly grabbing for his pokémon - who knew what he might infect himself with! Thankfully, Samurai chuckled and approached Misty, assuaging some of Ash's fears.

"Place one hand here," Samurai said, pointing to the middle of the venipede's back, "and slide your other hand underneath it, between its legs. Your venipede is much like a weedle; it's poisonous at the front and the rear."

"Not really making me feel much better," Misty muttered, though she followed his instructions. Ash watched as her venipede uncurled itself and, apparently happy to be picked up, almost seemed to make a purring sound as Misty lifted it from the ground. Misty however, seemed like she was about to cry as she placed the pokémon in her lap. She shook her arms to the side and leaned backwards, as if afraid to touch it any further. He jaw trembled, though Ash could tell by her expression she was refusing to show weakness.

"This uncomfortable feeling you have right now," Samurai said, pacing between them, "it feels like your skin is crawling, does it not?"

Ash nodded, dumbfounded. That was _exactly_ how it felt! Though he enjoyed being able to pet his caterpie, smiling at the pokémon's clear contentment, he could not deny the strange, underlying sensation his pokémon's touch left behind.

"That is the basis of energy used in bug attacks," Samurai told them. "Bug pokémon employ attacks that either hinder the opponent or boost their own abilities. It is rare to find bugs using attacks that don't do either of these things. When they do, however, they capitalise on this strange feeling, amplifying it, making the opposing pokémon as uncomfortable as possible. It's why they do well against psychics - this horrible feeling ruins a psychic's concentration, making it harder to employ their attacks."

"What about dark pokémon?" Ash asked, thinking of Misty's crawdaunt.

Samurai's steps faltered. "That, I do not know."

"Oh," Ash whispered, downcast. "I guess I can always try and find out for myself."

"Now we have that out of the way," Samurai said, "we can start training your pokémon."


	8. Infestation - III

"That's it caterpie! You're doing amazing!"

Ash grinned at his pokémon's progress. The pokémon in question turned around to look at him, eyes wide in admiration. The grass surrounding it was covered in thick, sticky silk. Some hung limply from the trees, where Ash could see it still sparked with errant electricity.

His caterpie crawled up to him, murmuring quietly. Ash grinned as he plucked the pokémon from the ground and held him tightly to his chest. "Don't worry about learning it straight away, Caterpie. Most of your kind don't ever learn these sort of moves - I didn't even know you could learn it!" Smiling, he held the pokémon out at arm's length. "But that doesn't mean you have to learn anything if you don't want to! I'll be behind you whatever you decide to do!"

His pokémon trilled a happy noise and rubbed its feeler against Ash in obvious contentment. Laughing, Ash placed the pokémon back on the ground and pointed to the nearest tree, where there was still electrified webbing scaring off the local bird population. "Alright Caterpie, let's see if you can get the hang of this electro web!"

His pokémon fired off another string shot, connecting it with the sparking webbing already present. Ash watched the electricity dance along the sticky webs and flinched as it _popped_ against his caterpie's mouth. Undeterred, the bug continued to spit string, though Ash could see sparks flying from the new segments.

Ash continued to watch his pokémon, cheering him on silently. Inwardly, he was _ecstatic_ about the progress his pokémon were making. With Samurai's guidance, he had already learned so much about bugs. He had Caterpie and Pikachu both learning how to produce an electro web, though there was a variation on the way they produced it that Ash had not considered. Whilst his caterpie had to electrify the sticky string shots it usually produced, Pikachu was instead producing arcs of electricity that moved in the pattern of a spider's web. To get them used to the attacks, he had Pikachu electrify the strings Caterpie would produce, as well as making Caterpie trap Pikachu in webbing.

He could see Pikachu in the tree, removing the electrified webs from the leaves, singing to himself as he did so. Apollo was in the skies with Samurai's butterfree, learning how to channel the winds with silvery powders. Sun, meanwhile, was working with Samurai's scyther, learning how to attack and retreat back to safety in a quick u-turn.

Ash could see Misty's starmie and vaporeon learning how to focus light with the strange, uncomfortable energies bugs produced, forming what Samurai had referred to as a signal beam. Her crawdaunt was learning how to focus the same energies into a double-handed - or clawed, in his case - slashing attack. She had withdrawn her poliwag and totodile for the time being, as they were unable to learn anything new from Samurai's pokémon.

More importantly, her attention was on her venipede, and her ability to actually stand in its presence without having a panic attack.

"Okay," Misty said with a deep breath, "let's see that defence curl once more!"

Her pokémon's antennae twitched in her direction. In response, Misty shrieked and flinched, leaping back a step. The venipede looked at her with an expression that very much asked, '_is she for real?'_

Ash turned his attention back to his pokémon. The idea had been that they would learn the new abilities first, then they would use their pokémon to teach each other. At the moment, however, Ash wondered if Misty would be able to _look _at her pokémon at any time in the future. She had managed to hold it before - though apparently, Misty's stubbornness only had a certain threshold.

Crouching down beside his caterpie, he grinned at the way the tiny insect refused to give up. More than once, Ash had thought it was time to call it quits. Each time the bug had endured, refusing to be beaten.

Shrieking, Caterpie spat another string of silk. This time there was a _crackle_ of electricity, a _spark_ of lightning. Ash flinched and fell backwards, landing on his backside. His caterpie, clearly surprised at the development, cut the attack short.

"You did it!" Ash cheered, laughing.

Caterpie stared at the electrified string with amazement. Then, with a shrill, happy cry, it stared towards the heavens and began to spit string. Ash watched in amazement as the string descended around his pokémon, covering it from head to toe. There was a flash of bright, white light - far brighter than anything from releasing a pokémon from its ball - and when he opened them again, his caterpie had _changed_. It was now a rigid, unmoving cocoon of a pokémon. Its eyes, previously so large and wondrous, were now small slits either side of its green, scaled body.

"Caterpie?" Ash asked, crawling towards it. He saw the same mirth in the pokémon's eyes as he did previously. "Alright! You evolved!" He jumped forwards and picked the pokémon up, grunting at the new weight. Spinning happily, he failed to compensate for his pokémon's new extra weight and fell forwards, screaming as he hit the floor.

After checking to make certain his pokémon was fine, Ash rolled onto his back and began to laugh. Hearing footsteps coming towards them, he grinned up at Samurai's stoic face. "Hey Samurai! Did you see that? My caterpie evolved!"

"So I saw," Samurai said. His tone made it seem like he took no joy in the fact. "You will need to continually train with your metapod now, to make certain it emerges into a strong butterfree, like mine."

"A metapod," Ash repeated, glancing over at his pokémon with newfound admiration. He held up his pokédex and scanned it, surprised at all the new information available. "Wow," he whispered, flicking through the pages, "I didn't realise there was so much!"

"Even novices understand the basics of evolution," Samurai said, sounding most unimpressed. "How is it you fail to grasp even these most rudimentary of concepts?"

"Hey!" Misty shouted. Ash sat up as she stomped towards them, and watched as she stood between Ash and Samurai, pressing her finger into the latter's chest and pushing him back a step. "I don't care if you're helping us out here, you _don't_ get to talk to people like that! Do you not know how _rude_ that is?"

Samurai snorted. "I am merely pointing out the obvious. How _he_ became a pokémon trainer is beyond my comprehension. Even infants are made aware of the dangers of carelessly picking up newly evolved pokémon!"

"And anyone with an _ounce_ of decency knows not to be a complete _asshole_," Misty snapped back. "He has a pokédex. Obviously Professor Oak knows something that _we_ don't."

Ash, sensing that this was going to become a heated argument very quickly, interjected. "I know I'm not amazingly smart with everything, but I'm learning. Tell the truth, I don't really remember much to do with pokémon when I was growing up. I think my mom said something about my dad and pokémon being responsible, but I don't really remember."

He saw the way that both Misty and Samurai's faces contorted into the same expression.

"I see," Samurai whispered. "Forgive me. I did not know your father died because of pokémon."

Ash blinked. "My father… I don't think my dad's dead," he said, confused. "Actually, I don't know anything about him, to be honest." The more he tried to think about it, the more he drew a blank. His voice cracked as he whispered, "There's a lot I can't really remember."

"Ash," Misty said gently as she crouched down in front of him. She reached out and touched his shoulder, biting her lip as she clearly thought about what to say. "Ash, just how much do you remember? Before that day with the spearow?"

He frowned, thinking. Images came to him in a blur. Voices echoed as if lost within a thick fog. "I dunno," he admitted. "I remember getting Pikachu from Professor Oak," he said, glancing towards his pokémon. "I remember my mom, obviously. Everything else is kinda there, but it's not at the same time." He shrugged as he stood up. "It doesn't matter though! I remember the important things, and that's enough!"

"Ash!" Misty protested, standing up. "That's not… are you not at all concerned about this?" She pointed to her own face, beneath her eyes. "You have those scars already, from where you took that electrical overload. Are you not worried that's caused you to forget anything?"

"Nope," he said. "Before I left, the professor told me that 'time is relative' and that 'the things we think we have forgotten remain in our hearts, until our minds have space for them once more'." He picked up his newly evolved metapod and smiled as he met Misty's eyes. "Besides, why would I need to worry? I've got you here, helping me."

Despite the furious blush that crawled from her face to her ears, Misty growled at him. "That's not… I mean…" She slapped her forehead as she continued to stumble over her own words. "Ash, not everyone is like me. There are some people out there who aren't nice."

"Maybe," he considered, thinking to the two people who claimed to be Team Rocket, back in Viridian City, "but no one's truly evil. Everyone has good in them." Hearing Metapod hum in agreement, Ash grinned. "See, Metapod thinks so too!"

Misty grumbled something as she threw her hands up in the air and stomped in the other direction, back towards her pokémon. Ash felt Samurai's eyes bore into him, as if trying to read his mind. Finally the boy grunted as he shrugged and too, turned to leave.

"Butterfree have psychic abilities," he advised, staring up at his own pokémon. Ash followed his gaze and found the butterfree sat in the trees above them, next to Apollo. The pokémon seemed to be deep in conversation, judging by the sounds coming from them. "Your hoothoot would do well to work alongside him, when he evolves once more."

"Thanks," Ash said. "I'll keep that in mind!" As Samurai turned to leave, Ash chuckled as his gaze was drawn to Pikachu. His pokémon was still in the trees, though now the electric webbing had been removed, he was content to sit above them, gorging on apples. Ash watched as his pokémon reached up to grab another one and plucked it free, only to jolt it with electricity afterwards. It explained where the smell of cooked apples was coming from.

"Come on, Metapod," Ash said, looking to the distance. "We'll try out your abilities a bit further away from everyone else for now. I wanna see how powerful you've gotten!"

Ash hummed happily as he traipsed through the woods, able to hear Pikachu darting through the trees above them. He knew that Samurai and Misty would make certain that Apollo and Sun were safe, as surely as he knew that the leaves above him were green. Misty's ability to doubt everyone was something Ash could admit to himself he could not understand. From what she had said, he could comprehend the idea of being guarded, though she seemed to have taken that concept and ran with it.

Sighing, Ash looked up at the sunlight filtering through the leaves and took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of Pikachu's cooked apples. Feeling the warmth on his skin and the soft breeze brushing against him, Ash wondered if it would be possible to freeze the moment, to make certain his whole journey would leave him with such a feeling of tranquility.

"I _am_ worried," he admitted, seeking a companion in the silence. Metapod's weight was a comforting presence in his arms. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? I still haven't been able to talk to Mom since I left. _She_ was the one that made me promise I'd call her. My dad… I can't remember anything about him. I can't remember _anything_ before we moved to Pallet Town, and even then I only remember bits and pieces."

Holding metapod in one arm, he pressed his fingers to the lightning bolt scars beneath his eyes. The nurses in Viridian had told him that sometimes, when struck by lightning, a person's veins were burnt so badly that they would turn black. He told himself that they were cool, a testament to his ability as a trainer.

"But what if it _did_ make me forget?" he whispered. He could feel Metapod's confusion. "I don't blame you," he added, sensing Pikachu nearby, feeling a twinge of guilt. "You were protecting me from the spearow, as much as I was protecting you. I can't talk to Misty about it. She's got enough that she's worrying about. I just… I just didn't think it would be this _hard_."

He sighed as he stood there, hugging Metapod for what felt like the longest time. Looking up, he saw the tree bore familiar stab wounds. Frowning, he began to move, eager not to be anywhere near a beedrill nest - or their hunting grounds. He wondered how Gary was doing; he had caught a scyther already, apparently. The lingering feeling of _incompetence_ stung. He could remember talking to Ritchie, telling him that they would catch up in ability soon. But what if they didn't? What if he remained in their shadows forever? What if-

_Movement_.

Ash gasped as he spun on the spot. He felt his heart racing. He could have _sworn_ he saw something behind the trees, watching him. His mind sprinted through all the possibilities of what could be waiting for him out there. Pikachu darted to his side, his cheeks sparking. It made Ash confident and worried all at once.

Thinking quickly, he plucked his pokédex from his pocket and pointed it towards the trees. The scanner showed nothing other than a _searching_ symbol.

_Maybe it's nothing_, he told himself. _Maybe I'm just seeing things because this forest is creepy_.

Yet he could not deny the lingering feeling of eyes on the back of his neck. He could almost sense _fear_ out there, surrounding him.

"I guess I'm just nervous," Ash whispered. "Come on Pikachu, let's-"

Tree branches _snapped_ in front of him. Ash gasped, dropping his pokedex. He balled his hand into a fist. Pikachu darted forwards, his fur on end, electricity sparking. Metapod grew still in Ash's arm, his skin feeling as solid as steel.

A blur sped towards Ash. A bird, moving at such speed it was almost a blur. Ash threw himself to the floor, covering his head with his hands. He saw the spearow, illuminated by the lightning in the sky. He heard their caws as they came for his and Pikachu's blood. He could hear the crackle of lightning once more.

Pikachu _howled_. The thunderclap deafened Ash. He felt the blistering heat from the flash of lightning roast his skin. He could smell his hair burning. He tasted blood, realised he had bitten into the flesh of his cheek.

Pikachu chittered as he pressed a hand against Ash's side. He felt the beating of wings once more. Ash whimpered, afraid to look up and see the spearow once more.

The bird cooed, a gentle sound, unlike the spearow that haunted Ash. He looked up to see a large bird with beige feathers. Its beak was pale, its eyes bloodshot with weariness. Ash felt a sense of weariness from the pokémon that made him want to yawn and go to sleep then and there.

Pikachu squeaked as he pulled on Ash's shoe laces. Looking down at his pokémon, Ash followed Pikachu's gesturing to see a very large, very _dead_ beedrill not three paces away. Ash paled and swallowed the lump in his throat. Metapod grunted his opinion and Ash nodded, unable to tear his gaze away from the fallen insect.

"Yeah, that could have ended badly," Ash agreed. Turning his gaze back to his pokémon, he frowned at the pidgeotto that had landed before them. As it sat before them, perched on the ground, Ash watched as its fatigue seemed to slowly wash away. It preened itself, running its beak along the bloodied chest feathers, grooming out the signs of damage.

"That beedrill was after you, wasn't it?" Ash asked it. The pidgeotto stopped grooming to turn and look up at him, tilting its head curiously. It chirped, just once, confirming Ash's suspicions. "Are all the beedrill round here like that?"

The pidgeotto chirped again. Ash scowled as he stood up, glancing in the direction of the fallen bug. On the one hand, he felt bad that the pokémon had died. On the other, he _knew_ that it would have easily killed him, had Pikachu not reacted in time.

"Where's your flock?" Ash asked the pidgeotto. It beat its wings and flew to the beedrill, chirping wildly as it began to peck at it. "The beedrill have taken over your territory?" Ash asked. He growled when the pidgeotto seemed to nod in response. "Well we can't have that! I'll help you get your territory back, Pidgeotto!"

The pokémon tilted its head curiously at him, as if to ask '_Are you serious?'_ Ash nodded as he slammed a fist into his other hand. "Of course!" Ash declared. "No one deserves to be bullied out of their home, human or pokémon!"

Cooing happily, the pidgeotto took to the sky once more, soaring circles around Ash. He laughed as he spun on the spot, watching the bird fly around them. "Alright Pidgeotto, lead the way!"

**-0-0-0-**

"So Jimmy, that crusty old coot told us that we needed to go down to Viridian. Just _why_ are we still in a tree watching the leaves fall?"

James sighed as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes, even if inwardly he was thinking much the same thing. It had been his decision after all - climb into the treeline and watch the underground beedrill nest just to see what was really going on. Though after losing several hours of daylight watching literally _nothing_ happen, he was beginning to wonder if he had made the wrong decision.

"Because if you were responsible for leaking secrets, wouldn't you want the first place for people to look to be somewhere that you aren't?"

Meowth moved on the branch above him. James looked up to see the cat laying back against the tree trunk, one paw pressed under his chin in thought. Above him, the sun was almost blinding, though as it bounced off the dark green leaves around them it created what appeared to be a halo of green above them all. "Got me there, Jimbo. But other than watching a few weedle grubs, we ain't done much with this day. Feels like we could have at least made a trip to Viridian, if only for some decent grub."

Jessie, for her part, was almost silent. She had covered her vibrant red hair with a layer of mud and grime, helping her to blend in effortlessly with her surroundings. James had heard whispers that she had once trained as a ninja, though had dismissed the rumours as nothing more than idle gossip. However, being able to see her remain as still as a tree and blend in with her surroundings as effortlessly as a kecleon made him reconsider his stance.

"At least we're near our other target of interest," she said, startling James. He had been so busy staring at where he was certain she was standing, that finding her voice coming from above him nearly startled him into falling out of the tree. He looked up to see her hanging _upside_ _down_ from one of the higher points of the tree, with her legs wrapped around the trunk. It was altogether _impossible_ and yet she was doing it, right before his eyes. "I had the grunts we assigned to tail him leave out a venipede for him to capture. Seems the other twerp got it first, though I had an update that the caterpie he caught barely two days ago has evolved already."

"Interesting," James said. "So perhaps-"

"Jimbo," Meowth hissed, "movement at one o'clock!"

James shut his mouth instantly. The binoculars were pressed back against his eyes. He saw a mop of light purple hair beneath a straw bug catcher's hat. There was what appeared to be honey slathered over the person's arms, and James caught sight of a young weedle resting on the person's hat.

"Well, either I'm slow on the updates and don't know about our latest mole, or it would appear we've caught the League's interest." Jessie had moved to James' side without a sound. He nearly screamed when her voice came from directly behind him, and it was only a last second realisation that instead changed it into a sharp intake of breath.

"Ain't that the Johto bug baby?"

"Still a gym leader," James said, glancing up at Meowth. "Which means whatever pokémon Bugsy has are likely to be quite the battle." He reached down to his belt, briefly touching the balls contained on it before an idea struck him. Instead, he grabbed the backpack from his shoulders, grabbed a data drive from the front pocket and then thrust his bag at Jessie. "Hold onto this. I've got an idea."

"You just happen to keep emergency flash drives on you, huh?"

He rolled his eyes as he dropped down from the tree as soundlessly as he could. Bugsy was young, perhaps barely old enough to legally travel alone, but was still a gym leader verified by the Johto government. That meant that despite looking otherwise, Bugsy was a force to be reckoned with if James made any missteps.

So instead, James crept around the treeline, watching Bugsy all the while. He had to time this right. Handily the suffocating humidity was making him sweat, adding to the illusion he wanted to sell.

James burst through the treeline, holding out the data drive. He saw Bugsy startle and steeled himself when Bugsy's hand went straight for a poké ball. "Leader Bugsy!" James cried, waving his hand.

Bugsy's guard fell. James smiled to himself. Had he thoughts of murder, it would have been almost pitifully easy. It was lucky for Bugsy that James considered it to be the last possible option.

"Leader Bugsy!" James exclaimed, stopping only to double over, rest his hands on his knees and pretend to be horrendously out of breath. "Leader Bugsy! Professor Nambie… he said… he said you needed this for your reports."

James waved the flash drive in the air. Bugsy glanced at him cautiously before sighing. "Somehow I doubt he said it so politely," Bugsy said quietly. James felt the weight leave his hand before he looked up, still exaggerating his breathing. "He really made you run all this way after me?"

"He did," James said, breathing in theatrically. "He told me I was fired if I didn't reach you in time." He squeaked and leaped to his feet, glancing around frantically. He saw Jessie and Meowth still in the trees, ready to leap in at a moment's notice. "Don't tell anyone I said that!" James added quickly, waving his hands in front of his face. To Bugsy, it would sell the cowardly scientist illusion. To Jessie and Meowth, it would let them know his plan was working. "I don't want - _it doesn't matter_," he said quickly, shaking his head. "Just, you have to connect it to your pokédex, let it download the files. They're encrypted, but everything is in there."

Bugsy had the unnerving ability to appear to doubt someone's entire existence by just raising a single eyebrow. For one long, horrible second, James thought he'd been made. He was already reaching for a poké ball he kept up his sleeve when Bugsy nodded.

"Alright." As Bugsy pressed something on his pokédex's screen, James felt his phone vibrate against him. He struggled not to smirk as Bugsy nodded and placed the pokédex - flash drive still connected - back into a boot pocket. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you have to work for someone like him."

"There are worse bosses," James said with a smile. "But I'm so sorry to take up your time. I'll be going now. I need to take some samples to Viridian." He waved Bugsy goodbye, and included a quick hand gesture to let Jessie and Meowth know where to meet him. "Good luck!"

James turned around and ran before Bugsy could think of keeping him for more questions. Once he was certain he was out of sight, James pulled his phone from his pocket and activated the worm he'd uploaded into the flash drive.

He nearly froze at the sound of grass rustling in his direction. Only when he saw Meowth did he stop running and instead began moving at a more leisurely pace.

Jessie appeared behind him with almost no sound. Even though he had been expecting it, James still nearly jumped out of his skin when she asked, "Is it normal to carry computer sabotaging files with you, or are you just crazy prepared?"

James glanced at the knife on her belt. "You have your methods of being prepared, I have mine."

"I suppose that's fair," she said. She crossed her arms and sighed before gesturing to his phone. "So, what's it saying?"

"It's analysing all traffic coming in and out of Bugsy's phone," James said. He scrolled through the displayed data and frowned at a set of coordinates that appeared only once, within the supposed leaks that Archer had given him. "I think I've found our mystery mole," James said, highlighting the numbers. "It seems like they knew what they were doing - they wanted until Bugsy had the League order to assist in the research here, and then waited until after Bugsy's first visit here to send out all the data they needed."

"So, got a name then Jimbo?" Meowth asked.

"No," James said. "But I do have a set of coordinates and an IP address of where the data got sent to. We'll get these to Archer, and then we'll know for certain just who has been selling Team Rocket's secrets."


	9. Infestation - IV

Ash had often thought that his pokémon journey would involve a lot of crazy, unimaginable things.

That being said, he always imagined them to happen _after_ he had already become a Pokémon Master. He never considered that instead that his journey would start off quite so terribly, or that circumstances would continue to be just as surreal.

Sat on a withered branch of a tree that bore the wounds of a lightning strike, he watched the beedrill swarming over what he assumed were the remains of an old pokémon centre. The tell-tale red roof had been weathered by time, yet still held traces of its original colour, like leaves in the fall before winter killed them. The walls, barely held together by pieces of crumbling stone, bore multiple wounds, through which beedrill flew in and out like haemorrhaging blood.

The wild pidgeotto rested down on the branch beside him, chirping softly. Ash nodded along with it, subconsciously running a hand down Pikachu's back as they continued to watch. Metapod, balanced in his lap, grunted a series of noises that Ash found himself agreeing with.

"Yeah, this doesn't look that friendly, does it?" Ash whispered. Around the dilapidated pokémon centre, the rocks and plant life were broken, scattered as if dropped there by a powerful wind. The grass, a rich shade of green, was covered in broken pieces of honeycomb, which Ash could see the young weedle crawling towards.

"They're all poisonous," Ash continued, thinking out loud. He squinted at the surrounding trees and sure enough, could see abandoned bird's nests nestled in the branches. "I guess this means they came in recently, huh?" He turned to the pidgeotto for answers. In return, the bird seemed to nod.

Pulling free his pokédex, Ash quickly tried to research everything he could. The pokémon centre was apparently abandoned twenty years ago, back when the league tried to build a safe area within the depths of the woods. Due to the low volume of trainers - and the high volume of wild pokémon attacks, the league had decided it did more harm than good and so gave up. The only thing that stopped them from removing the building, apparently, was that a breeding pair of shuckle had moved in.

"Huh," Ash grunted as he read more. Apparently - even though he would never have considered it - shuckle were notoriously dangerous to uproot. Though they were usually placid, when mating they could adapt their body's structure to switch their offensive capabilities with their defensive ones. Coupled with their ability to produce gastric acids strong enough to melt steel, it had been deemed too much of a risk to attempt to move them.

"I'll add those to the list of pokémon to be careful around," Ash grunted. "And I guess you guys need this area back, huh?" he asked the pidgeotto. It cooed at him, gesturing with its wings. Though Ash failed to understand its words, he could understand the general tone of its interactions. Wherever they had moved to was not the same - the hunting was more difficult, the berries more scarce, the competition too high and the threat of predators too great.

The moment he made to move, he froze. Something moved in the pokémon centre. He held his breath, waiting. He could see purple - maybe lilac. Pikachu chittered nervously on his shoulder. As Ash waited, the constant heartbeat from Metapod seemed to fade away. Outside sounds grew duller. He focused more and more on the pokémon centre and what lay within.

"There's people in there," he whispered, "three of them. I think."

He was uncertain _how_ he knew such a thing. Yet he knew it, as surely as he knew that the pidgeotto was watching him curiously, or that Pikachu was tense and ready for a fight.

Ash ran over his list of possible options before deciding to take the head-on route. He jumped down from the tree branch, landing hard on the damp forest floor, and began to walk towards the centre. Pikachu voiced his concerns, even as Metapod remained silent, watching. Only the pidgeotto seemed confident. The beedrill that swarmed the centre seemed unconcerned by their presence, even though Ash knew they should currently be running for their lives from the giant insects.

"Hey!" Ash called out when he saw the lilac once more. The beedrill turned and looked. Ash winced. Pikachu moaned in despair. The pidgeotto seemed to lose the ability to fly for a moment.

Then the beedrill turned away, filling Ash with relief.

The mop of lilac hair moved out of the pokémon centre, climbing over the broken walls that would have once held windows. Ash saw that the person - he still was unable to tell if it was a boy or a girl, for their hair was long and to their shoulders, and their clothes were on the baggy side - dressed in the same camouflage that he had seen all the bug catchers in the forest wearing so far.

"Hey yourself," the person said. Ash could feel them analysing him, measuring him up for a potential threat. It felt similar to the first time he met Misty's pokémon, or even Gary's eevee. "You lost?"

"Not really," Ash said, shaking his head. "I promised Pidgeotto here that I would try and help her get back her flock's nesting grounds from the beedrill that have invaded it."

The person, apparently having decided that Ash was not a threat, took a seat on a large, upturned wall fragment. Dust and pollen clung to the hair on their legs. Sighing as they took off their large boater hat, they ran a hand through their long, lilac hair. "That's probably not a good idea. The beedrill are nesting right now; the queen's going to be in egg laying mode soon, which means they'll be more aggressive than ever." As they lifted up an arm, Ash felt his jaw drop as one of the beedrill flying out of the pokémon centre turned around and headed straight for them.

Going against everything he knew about the species, the beedrill settled down gently next to the person, placed its head on their arm and buzzed gently as they began to scratch its head.

"The only thing that's keeping them from going completely territorial right now is me," the person said. They said it as simply as they were discussing the weather - a part of Ash knew it could be a threat, yet he felt no malice coming from them. "And I'm only here on League business. Once I'm done, it'll be back to normal." They made a quick _shooing_ gesture and the beedrill complied instantly, taking to the sky and falling in line with the others of its swarm. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help more, but these things happen. Nature can be a cruel mistress sometimes."

Crestfallen, Ash turned to the pidgeotto and felt his heart sink. He could see the bird's world being destroyed before its very eyes.

"That's not good enough!" Ash growled. "You say you're with the League? What sort of League trainer would let pokémon bully each other like that?"

The person sighed and pulled a phone from their pocket, burying their attention in the screen. "Look, life's a bitch," they said, not looking up from the screen. "I wish I could do more or help more, but sometimes things like this happen. The pidgeotto flock only managed to claim this area because they hunted and killed every last one of the shuckle who were living here."

Horrified, Ash turned back to the bird. "Is that true, Pidgeotto?"

The pokémon cooed a response that could have meant anything. Scowling, Ash spun back around. "Well I don't care about that! If you're not going to help them then _I _will!"

Ash marched forwards two steps before the person sighed and stood up. "Look, stop for a moment and think, okay?" He reached into his top and pulled free a necklace, from which a symbol that reminded Ash of a ledyba hung. "I'm Bugsy. I'm the gym leader from Azalea in Johto. I got called here because of my expertise with bugs. I know what's best for them, what gives them the best opportunities in life, how to properly raise them. I even managed to design and create a way for people to train their pokémon to use insect energies to hit and run in battle." Frowning, Bugsy shook their head and rubbed at their temples. "Could have sworn it was my fury cutter idea. Anyway!" they said loudly, looking back up, "You can't move the beedrill from here because this is their home now. They're nesting, laying eggs. _Babies._ If you kick them out, they'll just have to move elsewhere and then this cycle starts again."

"But," Ash protested, looking at the pidgeotto, "I promised."

"You're nothing if not dedicated," Bugsy said, a smile on their face. "How about this? Once I'm done with my business here, I'll see if I can help you with finding a new section of the forest for your friend's flock to move into."

"Really?" Ash felt his smile threaten to take over his face. Even Metapod seemed to hum in joy. "But what about the bugs there? Don't pidgeotto and the others eat them?"

"Circle of life," Bugsy said, shrugging. "Certain bugs grow large enough to feed on smaller birds, but by being preyed upon it controls their population and stops them from devouring the forest." Waving Ash forwards, they glanced quickly up at the beedrill, then back into the ruined pokémon centre. "Stick by my side, alright? Hopefully Professor Nimbuzz is done with his work soon so this can no longer be my problem." Bugsy sighed and rubbed their temples. "Request came in from Giovanni. Help out the League and Kanto's strongest gym leader, I thought, maybe it'll win me some favour. I swear it's just been one boring moment after the next."

"How comes?" Ash asked, intrigued.

"Never mind, just moaning," Bugsy said, waving a hand. "Let's talk about something more interesting; your metapod. If it's alright with you, whilst the scientists I'm escorting are working, I can look at him for you? I _am_ something of an expert with bug pokémon after all," Bugsy said, grinning.

"Sure!" Samurai had certainly been useful so far - and a little part of Ash hoped that he would currently be trying to help Misty get over her fear of bugs right now, not just suffering her ire at the fact Ash had wandered off and had yet to return - but getting a gym leader to look at his pokémon would be an amazing opportunity.

Marvelling at the beedrill flying over them, Ash followed Bugsy into the remains of the pokémon centre. The lobby was just recognisable, though the forest had already begun to reclaim the walls. Where the reception desk should have been, instead was a set of stairs into a basement level. Ash could see all the beedrill flying in and out from down there, and though he could not see completely inside, he could see that the man-made walls had been replaced by thick, yellow honeycomb.

"...are far stronger here than we've seen elsewhere!" a person by the staircase was saying. He wore an impossibly white lab coat, even in the middle of the forest, and with his back turned to him, all Ash could see was his bald spot and thinning, almost peach-coloured hair.

"Perhaps that could be due to the beedrillite deposit beneath us," the other man was saying. Unlike his counterpart, he wore no lab coat, yet instead was wearing a black shirt with a bright white tie, though he wore hiking boots and thick, black trousers. His face was serious, harsh almost, with short grey hair that seemed almost a shade of blue. "Or perhaps even because of their close relationship to the queen. There are a variety of factors here that we need to consider, Professor Bumba."

"_Namba_!" the one in the lab coat screamed. "My name is _Namba!_ Why is that so hard for you _dimwits_ to remember? Shall we reverse it? Archer? Shall I call you… I don't know, Arrow-Boy instead?"

"That was poor," Archer said after a moment's pause. Glancing up, his eyes narrowed as he took in Ash and Bugsy. Ash was not sure why, but _something_ about him put him on edge. "Well, our guide seems to have returned. He even brought a stray home."

"Dr Archer," Bugsy said, sounding like patience was an almost forgotten concept, "_please_. We're in a _beedrill_ nest. I appreciate that you may have pokémon strong enough to defend yourselves, but Giovanni was informed his request could only be processed should there be no impact on the local species."

"Of course, we know that you bug-brained child," Namba spat, still turned away from them. Ash saw the way Bugsy's cheeks flushed red and understood perfectly how he felt. "Why don't you stand back and guard like a good little boy, and leave the _real_ scientists to do their work?"

"Hey!" Ash shouted, wincing as the beedrill above buzzed. The scientists turned towards him and for the first time, Ash saw Namba directly. Honestly, he would have laughed, had the circumstances been different. Namba reminded him of cartoons of someone placing their finger in a plug socket - his hair was frayed, splayed out in different directions, and eyebrows seemed to be as large as his moustache. "Bugsy's here to protect you! The least you can do is treat him with some respect."

Namba's face reached a shade of red that was matched by the thick, grandpa sweater he wore. "Look here you little-"

"The child is right," Archer interrupted, holding a hand towards Namba. "The League have been gracious enough to help us with our research here. We should respect their wishes, and their staff, and not do anything that may impact on our work. Do you not agree, _Nimrod_?"

His tone sent chills racing down Ash's spine. Namba's ego seemed to wash out of him as he nodded meekly. Even Pikachu, still perched on Ash's shoulder, gripped onto Ash's ear a little tighter.

"Bugsy, we intend to move into the nest and collect some samples for study. After this, I would assume that our business here is complete. Is this agreeable with you?"

"Uh, sure," Bugsy said. "But-"

"Good," Archer said, turning and beginning to walk down the stairs. "Please, give us a moment alone. I appreciate your concern for our well-being, but I do not wish to keep you from any important business you may have."

"...sure," Bugsy whispered, blinking as he watched them descend the stairs. Folding his arms, he scowled after them. "I should follow them. I get the feeling I should go after them and make sure they're not up to anything."

"If that's what you feel like you should do," Ash said. He glanced around the ruined pokémon centre, enraptured by the horrific beauty of nature reclaiming the building. "I can always wait here. I'm safe whilst you're in control of the beedrill, aren't I?"

"Yes but well," Bugsy looked between the stairs and Ash and sighed. "Are these your only pokémon?"

"Oh, the pidgeotto isn't mine," Ash said, glancing at the bird. She had nestled on the remains of the wall closest to Ash, preening her feathers in an almost aggressive manner. "I found her because she was being chased by a beedrill that Pikachu… dealt with." He made a face, attempting to remove that memory from his mind. "But otherwise I have a hoothoot and a mankey."

"I see," Bugsy whispered. "And you have those on you?"

"Um… you see," Ash said, chuckling nervously. Pikachu groaned and Metapod heaved an embarrassed sigh. "I was training all of my pokémon with my friends when this pidgeotto came along and well, I kinda got so swept up in helping it that I forgot to let anyone know what I was doing."

Bugsy stared at him for such a length of time that Ash began to wonder if his body had stopped. Finally, Bugsy closed his eyes and groaned in a way that reminded him of a disappointed parent.

"Look, you're a new trainer, so I won't shout at you. We all make mistakes. That said, _don't_ forget to bring all your pokémon with you, at all times. You never know when you may need the extra help."

"So long as I have Pikachu with me, I'm not worried," Ash said. "And besides, I even have Metapod with me too! I taught him how to produce electro webs, so he's no slacker either!"

Whatever Bugsy was about to say was cut short by the reappearance of the scientists. They were speaking in quick, hushed tones, leaving Ash curious as to the nature of their conversation.

"Bugsy," Archer said, looking up. "I would like to thank you for all your time and effort in aiding us." Taking a poké ball from his pocket, he released a tall yellow pokémon with a fur collar and a pendulum swinging from its hand. Ash scanned it with his pokédex quickly as Archer continued, "Our business here is concluded. Our management will be in contact with Giovanni regarding payment for this excursion."

"Sure," Bugsy said, stepping towards them, "but just before-"

The hypno's eyes shone blue and in a flash of light, it and the two scientists vanished.

"-you go," Bugsy finished, staring at the spot they vacated. Scowling, he spun and kicked a rock on the floor. "_This_ is why they said you're too young for this! You're not authoritative enough!"

"Bugsy?" Ash asked, standing. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Bugsy said quickly, smiling widely. "Now why don't we have a quick look at the hive, make sure everything's fine, then I'll have a look at your metapod whilst we try and work out where we can help your friend's flock start up again?"

**-0-0-0-**

Once again James felt like he was on the executioner's block, waiting for the axe to fall.

After getting the files he had needed from Bugsy's phone he had used his chimecho to transport all three of them back to base. Jessie and Meowth were being debriefed elsewhere, by one of the other admins whose name James had never bothered learning.

As it was, he felt he had much bigger fish to fry. He was once again waiting in Archer's office, although this time Archer himself was not there. Apparently he had only just teleported back into base himself, and would be up shortly.

_If what his receptionist says can be trusted. Maybe they're all plotting -_

James shook his head in an attempt to physically shake the thoughts free. He had to remind himself that he was no longer a child and no longer stuck under his father's '_care'_. Not every trip to a boss's office meant that he had failed in some way.

When the silence was broken with a sudden _crack_ that almost echoed around him. The white walls glowed blue for less than a second before Archer _appeared _in his chair. If he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, James would have thought that Archer had never left the office, given the way the man's face revealed nothing.

Whatever pokémon he had used to teleport him back was either elsewhere, or hidden under an illusion. James sincerely hoped it was the former.

"Agent," Archer said. "I see you have already taken the liberty of making yourself comfortable."

"S-sir!" James nearly fell over his own feet in his haste to leap out of the chair. "I'm so- forgive me sir, I shouldn't have - it was-"

"Agent," Archer said, holding up a hand. He gestured to the chair James had just leaped out of. "Kindly wait to be offered a seat next time."

"O-of course sir," James said breathlessly, his heart racing. "My apologies sir."

"Very well." Archer placed his hands on his desk and linked his fingers together. James barely contained a flinch. It was _exactly_ what his father would do just before-

_But he's not Father._

James took in a long, quiet breath to try and calm himself. His pulse was still racing, but he felt like he had a better grasp of his emotions. "Would you like my report on what I discovered, sir?"

There was a smirk on Archer's face. It only made James picture him as more of a mandibuzz than a vullaby. "Very well. Proceed. What did you find, Agent?"

James pulled a plain white flash drive from his pocket and placed it on the table. "I uploaded a worm into the pokédex of the League agent attending the site. As they were the only one who didn't have to report to base-"

"Agent," Archer almost _growled_, "I didn't ask for your thought patterns, merely your results."

James swallowed the dry lump that had appeared in his throat. "Y-yes sir. Apologies sir. I pulled data from the League agent's pokédex and obtained proof that the mole piggybacked off their pokédex and used it for the data transfer."

"Impressive," Archer said, though his face showed no trace of emotion. "Who is our mole?"

James took a deep breath. "That I don't know yet, sir. I don't have the clearance to run the decryption algorithm necessary to decode the perpetrator's credentials, though I'm able to tell it was certainly a member of our organisation. That's why I brought this straight to you." He gestured to the flash drive on the desk, and then to his own muddy boots. "No one else has seen this data."

"Good," Archer said, nodding briefly. "Is this the only copy of said data?"

"No sir. I followed protocol. I made one physical copy, which is held in your hands, and stored one in our Cloud-based systems. The password to access the online data is split between the members of my team. All three of us only know one component of the password."

There was a look in Archer's eye that made James' skin crawl. He had heard the horror stories about the man - that he was ruthless, that he had killed anyone who was an obstacle in his ascension up through the ranks of Team Rocket.

"Why Agent, when you phrase it like that, it almost sounds like you expected to leave this meeting in a body bag."

The look Archer gave him sent chills down James' spine. A cold sweat blossomed on his forehead and in his armpits. "S-sir," he stuttered. He stood quickly and bowed. "I would never!"

"Sit, Agent," Archer said. James bowed once again and obeyed quickly. "I am impressed with your level of data protection. Would I be correct in assuming that similar properties are installed on this flash drive of yours?"

"Nothing as advanced," James admitted. "For that only myself and you are able to unlock it with our access codes, and it sends an encrypted email to each of us with the location, time and date of when it is unlocked. Just to make certain that no one has forged our credentials."

"I'm glad to see that my faith in you for this mission was not broken." Archer's smile reminded James of documentaries of serial killers. Archer placed the flash drive into a slot on the arm of his chair and pressed his thumb into the fingerprint scanner on the edge of his desk.

Almost immediately a hologram appeared above the table, displaying rows upon rows of encrypted text. There was a bright, flashing identification number. A satellite image of Mount Silver grew over the desk. Ice-capped mountain peaks grew above James' head. Holographic snow drifted between them.

Above it all was the impossible identity of their supposed traitor.

The room went dark.

It was Archer who sucked in a deep, panicked breath.

"James?" he said, so quietly that for a moment James thought he was hearing things. "Destroy the Cloud file. Never speak of this to anyone."

When the power came back on, James was alone, confused and most of all, _deathly afraid._

**-0-0-0-**

Ash groaned as he tried for what felt like the hundredth time to pry honey from his shoes. Honestly, seeing the hive had been _nothing_ like what he had expected. He had imagined walls filled with honeycomb going down several layers, with a queen beedrill the size of a small house that sat atop a giant honeycomb, intimidating all that came nearby.

Instead Bugsy had only taken him to the hive's entrance, which honestly just looked like a giant ball of thick, yellow _string_. He apparently managed to check up on whatever he was interested in from outside the hive, which left Ash more confused and curious than ever.

After that he had marched them in what felt like a random direction, far away from the ruined centre and even further still from Misty and Samurai.

"I'd say this region should be good enough for your friends to move to," Bugsy said.

Ash stopped behind him and looked at the surroundings. To him, it genuinely looked no different to any other part of the forest. The trees were a bit closer together maybe, reaching closer to the heavens, and the leaves were a brighter shade of green, but the differences seemed trivial in comparison to what he was hoping for.

The pidgeotto soared to the treelines, cawing as she circled above them.

"Is that it?" Ash whispered. Pikachu voiced his disappointment. "I thought there would be more."

Bugsy turned his head to him and laughed. "Sometimes the solution isn't as much of a payoff as you'd think, true. But think of it this way; your friend is happy now. This location is perfect - there's enough local species for the birds to prey on, and there's also the threat of bigger, hungrier pokémon that can keep the pidgey population in control."

"That's… good, I guess." He was happy for the pidgeotto, he truly was. Yet he would be lying if he said that he wasn't disappointed. He had been expecting so much - it seemed like something interesting happened everywhere that he had been to lately. "Hey pidgeotto!" he called, waving up to the bird. "How do you like your new home?"

He could feel the joy washing off her as she trilled and soared through the air. Laughing as he moved beneath her, he froze as a sudden feeling of _wrong_ washed over him.

He turned his head to look at Bugsy. He had become as still as a statue too, staring off towards the treelines. "Bugsy?"

"Quiet," the gym leader hissed, holding up a hand. "There's something happening."

"I know, I…" He frowned as Pikachu tugged on the bottom of his jeans, whispering softly. "Who are they?"

Bugsy's head snapped round to him, a look of unfiltered surprise on his face. "How did you? No, never mind." He dropped into a crouch as he approached the trees to his left, scowling as he glanced out from behind the trunk. Ash followed after him, Metapod still held in his tiring arms. Above, Pidgeotto had fallen silent, landing on one of the nearby branches. Pikachu was stood on Ash's back, gripping the bottom of his hat.

Ash looked around the treeline to see two people with machetes hacking their way through the large undergrowth in the forest. Dressed in camouflage, he almost failed to see them at first. Both were men, with cropped brown hair and stern faces. Ash could see the six poké balls they each carried on their waists and swallowed nervously.

Bugsy stood slowly, stopping to glare at Ash. "Stay here. If it looks like I'm in danger, run."

"Bugsy, what?" Ash cried, but the gym leader was already moving. Ash watched with wide eyes as he headed towards the two people with obvious purpose, yet somehow made himself seem perfectly innocent. Ash bit his bottom lip, hating himself as he waited, noticing the way he was holding his breath. He saw the two people freeze as they noticed Bugsy. Though their words were inaudible to him, he could tell from their tone that they were plotting something that they did not want discovered.

Then in the time it took Ash to blink, all hell broke loose.

He saw a scizor explode out from Bugsy's poké ball, though it happened so quickly it almost seemed to burst free from his pocket. The two people called forth a pair of golbat that _shrieked _so loudly Ash flinched and fell to his knees. He wanted to cry out, scream in pain. A small part of his mind was appalled at the fact that League rules said two on one battles were illegal - barring those that had started as doubles.

The scizor blurred into the sky and brought its pincers down on the pokémon like giant fists. Ash _heard_ the impact from his hiding spot. Without even waiting to recall them, the two people brought forth the rest of their pokémon. Ash counted ten of them stood over Bugsy and his scizor. Two raticate, a pair of koffing and voltorb and two evil-looking ekans stood waiting for the trainer's orders. One had called forth a magmar - Ash watched in horror as small embers fell from its body and slowly smouldered on the forest floor. Behind them a large beedrill towered, its stingers already stained with something that looked suspiciously like old blood.

Ash took a step to try and help Bugsy. He froze when he saw the smirk on the gym leader's face. Whatever he said pissed off the two he fought - their faces dropped into twin scowls.

Then his scizor _moved_.

It was a streak of red that dominated their enclosure. It made for the magmar first, apparently ignorant to its species' crippling weakness to fire. It grabbed the magmar by its tail and _swung_ it like a club at the hoarde of pokémon between it. As the magmar screeched, slamming into the koffing, it started a chain reaction. The koffing's poisonous gases caught fire. Both exploded in fireballs that left the pokémon on the ground, charred and dazed. The explosions engulfed the voltorb and ekans, sending them all flying. The raticate raced clear, as the beedrill took to the air. The trainers hit the ground for cover, yet Bugsy stayed on his feet the whole time.

The scizor spun, still holding onto the magmar. With a snarl it _flung _the pokémon at the beedrill, knocking it out of the sky. Before they had even hit the ground, the scizor raced after both the raticate, grabbing them by the tails. They squealed, thrashing frantically as it picked them up, one in each pincer. The scizor twirled them by their tails, smashed both of their skulls together and threw their limp, unconscious bodies back at their trainers.

There was another flash of light as a butterfree appeared at Bugsy's side. Ash watched as it fluttered above the trainers and their pokémon, covering them all in sticky webbing. Bugsy walked around them, his scizor picking up the unconscious pokémon and adding them to the pile of defeated, webbed pokémon.

"That was amazing!" Ash cried, racing towards them. He stumbled at Bugsy's scowl, though continued running towards him. "You took them all out super fast! How strong is your scizor?! How long have you had it for? I couldn't even follow it!"

Bugsy's face fell into a flat, stone mask of barely-concealed anger. "What part of 'stay here' did you not understand?"

"But," Ash started, feeling his blood chill, "you've won. You beat all of them."

A gesture and his butterfree stopped spraying silk. Ash watched as it fluttered over the trainers - to their increasingly loud curses - and scattered blue, sweet-smelling powder over them. When it finished scattering powder, the trainers were asleep so deeply that their chests seemed to barely rise and fall with each breath.

"Listen," Bugsy said, his sigh more like a growl, "I appreciate that you're excited. It's not everyday that you get to see a gym leader's star pokémon. That said, I _explicitly_ told you to do something. I know I have trouble being authoritative, but just for once I would have liked _someone_ to do what I tell them to do!"

"I'm sorry," Ash said, flinching. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Bugsy growled. "I wanted to question them, to see who they worked for. Now I'll just take them straight to the police, I suppose. You really need to think before you act. What if there were more than two of them? What if I hadn't beaten all of their pokémon?" A look of horror came over his face suddenly. "Two, four, seven, nine…" He raced around the pile of defeated pokémon, eyes wide. "Where's the beedrill?"

A buzzing, angry demonic sound erupted from the treetops. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Ash barely heard Bugsy shout his name. He saw Bugsy's scizor grab him and spin to shield him. He saw the large, bloodstained stingers heading their way. He heard the butterfree cry out in alarm. He felt Pikachu fall off him as he spun around too quickly.

He saw the stinger plunge straight into Metapod's soft, unhardened flesh.

The world returned to normal speed.

Ash screamed as his metapod was wrenched from his arms and thrown to the ground. The butterfree threw itself at the beedrill, shrieking wildly. Ash saw them move from the corner of his eye. He paid them no mind. He dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes. Pikachu grabbed his wrist, his tiny paws shaking.

"Metapod," Ash whispered, staring at the gaping, bloodless wound in his pokémon's body. "_Metapod_!" he screamed, scrambling towards the pokémon. "No, _no_, metapod _no_!"

He heard Bugsy whisper his name. He felt his hand touch his shoulder gently, as if trying to reassure him. He could barely see anything past the tears in his eyes. Metapod's bright, wide, yellow eyes were dull, staring lifelessly towards the sky.

"Please, Metapod," Ash whispered, "please say something. Don't die."

A blinding white light tore his vision from him.

Ash yelped and dropped Metapod's cocoon. From within, an angelic, white creature was emerging. Ash watched with wide eyes as wings unfurled from its body. The light began to fade, revealing the large, red eyes and small fanged mouth. Its antenna fluttered in the wind and as if noticing its wings for the first time, it trilled happily and took flight.

"Metapod?" Ash whispered, looking between the shed cocoon and the butterfree fluttering before him. "Is that you?"

The butterfree hummed and pressed itself against Ash's face. It was warm to the touch, and smelled strangely like fresh leaves. Pikachu jumped to Ash's shoulder and pressed a tiny paw against the butterfree's body, as if surprised that it was actually real.

"I've never seen a butterfree evolve like that before," Bugsy whispered.

Pidgeotto came down from the sky to inspect the new pokémon. With a joyous cry, Butterfree took to the sky after it, dancing in wide circles with it.

"I have a butterfree," Ash whispered, awed. His mind felt slow, like it was struggling to catch up with reality.

"You do," Bugsy said, as his own butterfree joined in with the flying dance. Squeezing Ash's shoulder gently, he added, "I think now would probably be a good time for me to help you with your pokémon - and for you to start listening to people."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, nodding slowly. When he tore his eyes away from his new pokémon - his new, _not dead_ pokémon - he caught the shape of something like a badge in Bugsy's hand. It seemed to be red, with the camouflage fabric still stuck to the back of it. Though Bugsy was quick to hide it in his pocket, Ash was certain it was a large, stylised 'R'.

He wanted to ask questions about it, to see what it meant. Yet for now, he decided that maybe he should take a step back and focus on what was in front of him. It could, after all, he reasoned with himself, mean nothing at all.

**-0-0-0-**

The night sky was almost pitch-black. With several miles left until they reached Pewter City, the three of them had called it a night.

Meowth was already fast asleep, curled up in front of their fire. Jessie had forgone a tent to lay in front of the fire, nestled in the coils of her arbok. James found himself staring up at the night sky, counting the stars and wondering just what he should do with himself.

They had another assignment waiting for them in Pewter. Along the way they had to catch up on their long term priority. The grunts they had assigned had reported back and returned to base. In their time chasing a mole, they had missed not just one but two evolutions. It almost seemed unreal.

James' chimecho was curled around his neck, her head resting against his shoulder. The pokémon weighed almost nothing, and was completely silent in the cool, still air of the night.

"Jessie," James said, sitting up straight. "We need to talk. Do you have a moment?"

She grunted. Her eyes were closed and she almost seemed to have merged into her pokémon's coils. The arbok moved its head slowly, constantly scanning their surroundings. Though both of them seemed relaxed, James did not doubt that they would both spring into action at a moment's notice.

"Delphie," James said, tapping his chimecho gently. "No eavesdroppers."

His pokémon unwrapped herself from his neck and floated gently into the sky. Her body danced in the still night sky as her head shone with a light purple glow.

James stood, stretched and cleared his throat.

He made no sound whatsoever.

Jessie opened her eyes and looked at him in palpable confusion. He shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips as he moved closer. He gestured to her side, away from her arbok's large, intimidating head. Jessie nodded and gestured for him to take a seat.

He sat down and looked over at his pokémon. There were barely visible waves of purple energy washing off her. Jessie's arbok looked up, flicking its tongue in Delphie's direction. Meowth stirred in his sleep.

James clapped twice. The colours washing off his pokémon changed slightly, becoming a brighter shade of pink.

"Can I hold your hand?"

Jessie looked at him without blinking for a very long minute before she finally threw her head back and _cackled_. "James. If you want to fuck, there are about a _thousand_ better ways to start."

He just smiled and held out his hand. She rolled her eyes and shifted slightly on her pokémon before sliding her hand into his, laughing as she entwined her fingers with his. As he moved his hand to press something into hers, she glanced at him sharply.

"Don't," he said quickly. "Don't react. Delphie can mask our conversation, but we're still visible to anyone watching."

"If anyone's watching they're probably able to read our lips," Jessie pointed out.

"Why do you think I chose to sit _away_ from the fire?" James tried his best to laugh, but it came out like the dying breath of a withered man. "Jessie. Archer recovered the information about the agent who betrayed our organisation. He was _scared_. He ordered me to destroy the copy we saved."

"That's nice James," Jessie said. She moved her hand slowly, testing the object he had placed between their hands. "So why does this concern me? Why… _this?_"

"I copied the data one last time," James told her. "I de-encrypted it and removed all possible ways it could be linked back to our systems."

"James, that's basically treason," she said, though she kept her hand linked in his. "I could-"

"You could," he said, nodding, "but you won't. Not when you hear what I need to tell you. I couldn't keep this from you Jessie. We may not have always been teammates, but we've known each other since before the days of Sunnytown."

A smile briefly graced Jessie's face. "Ah yes, Chainer Jessie and Trainer James." She laughed. "The only bike gang member to ever need stabilisers."

"They were _cool_ and you know it," James said, laughing with her. "That brings me to my point. We have a long history Jessie, even if the time apart means we don't know fully know each other any longer. That's why I had to tell you. On that flash drive is everything you need to know.

"Our supposed mole is Miyamoto. I don't know what that means, Jessie, but your mother may still be alive."


	10. Interlude - II

Mount Moon was _freezing_.

Gary knew to expect the cold. The tunnels were underground, far away from sunlight or a subterrain source of heat. There was a reason that the pokémon known to inhabit the caves were all warm blooded.

Even so, he was taken aback by just how _cold_ it got.

He could feel the chill through his cotton gloves. His navy jacket was only designed for the cooler days of spring, and he was certain his black beanie was keeping his brain cold, not warm.

Luminous moss grew over the tunnel walls, basking them in a bright, ethereal green. Glow worms crawled over the ceiling above him. Part of Gary's mind was active, imagining horrors waiting for him in the dark. Zubat hidden above, feasting on the glow worms. Small paras hidden in the shadowy corners, waiting to infect another lifeform with their parasitic spores. Onix tunneling far beneath the earth's surface, weakening the ground itself and creating pitfalls for him to fall and become trapped within.

The other part of his mind tried its best to focus on what he knew. He had a full team of pokémon at his beck and command. Shadow, Donnie, Talon, Trinity, Kuma and Prince were his own portable army. Talon was a formidable controller of the skies, with a power he rarely saw in other spearow. Trinity would be a powerful dodrio one day, though honestly, Gary was more curious to see what would end up when they evolved - the fact that they had both male and female genes was almost unheard of. Prince was still learning and adapting to being part of a team, but he was a goddamn _scyther_.

Gary stopped as he heard the distant sounds of other voices. He felt his breath hitch. His heart thundered in his ears. He growled and tried to force past the strange feeling in his gut. Half his team may have been fliers, but he had the might of his teddiursa and eevee to fall back upon. His squirtle was no slouch either - all three of them could easily be the powerhouse any other trainer relied on.

However, Gary had his sights set far higher than that. Why have just one powerhouse when each and every member of his team would be something even Champions would fear?

With that thought in mind, he held his head up high and began to move through the tunnels once more. The floor beneath him was uneven, filled with pitfalls and loose rocks. He refused to use anything brighter than his dull headlamp. Fire or bright lights would ruin his night vision and possibly attract something that took offence to the sudden light. Gary could admit he was confident, maybe even arrogant sometimes. He hoped that he would continue to err on the right side of overconfident. A fall in a dark tunnel could mean a sprained ankle, or it could mean a broken arm and a lifetime injury.

He made his way slowly through the darkness. The sounds of conversation were getting louder, though they were still an indistinct mumble. He froze when he saw movement at the end of the tunnel. His mind was busy questioning his fear, whilst his gut told him to keep his guard up. There were other trainers in the depths of Mount Moon - Gary was hardly the first person to explore within, looking for pokémon.

Conversely, the dark, secluded nature of the mountain also attracted the type of characters that would think nothing of robbing a child - or worse.

When he saw flickers of light at the edge of his vision, Gary switched off his headlamp. He heard actual voices, though he still was too far away to fully understand what they were saying.

He crept closer, holding his breath. The light at the end of the tunnel was a bright, clinical white. Almost blinding. Gary found the darkest shadow he could and waited in it, giving himself time to adjust.

He was glad he did, for when he saw what was waiting for him, he could barely even believe his eyes.

There was an encampment that had been built in the rocks below. It seemed like someone had simply _carved_ a flat surface from the rock, giving them an area to work in. He saw excavators gently brushing away at what looked like bones, buried deep within the sediment of the earth. Marquees had been erected, beneath which he could see the fluorescent lamps that bathed the caverns in their sterile glow. Metal tables, each with legs as wide as his body, were underneath each of the marquees. He saw maps, bones, food and even piles of cash on the tables.

With his body pressed against a boulder that was larger than he was, Gary crept a little bit further up. He gasped and froze when he saw two people stood a hair's breadth away from him. They were both clad in bulky, black survival clothes. Each of them had a coiled whip on their hips, and a full roster of six poké balls clipped to their belts.

By some small mercy, their backs were to him.

"...much longer in here?" the one on the right whispered. He was the taller of the two, and also seemed to be carved from pure muscle. Gary imagined him picking him up and popping his head from his body with a simple squeeze.

"Like they'd tell us," the other one snorted. His accent was quintessential Johtoan. Gary pegged him as a Goldenroder. Both of their uniforms had a large, red, stylised 'R' on the back, between their shoulders. "We're on a need to know basis. We're just lucky we know more than those smart assholes down there digging us up more fossils."

"My wife's pregnant," the other guy said. His voice was almost devoid of an accent, making it difficult for Gary to place where he could possibly be from. "About to drop anytime soon. I promised I'd be there for the birth."

"You also promised yourself to Team Rocket."

_Team… Oh shit._

Gary fell backwards off the boulder and cursed as the ground ripped the skin of his palms. He heard nothing but his heartbeat. He backed up, forcing himself into a shadowy crevice. He was breathing quickly, far too loudly.

"...friends in the right places," Goldenrod was saying, "you know she'll be looked after if she goes into labour while you're done here."

"It's not the same."

Gary could taste bile. It was _them_. They may not have been the ones responsible, but they were still part of the same organisation. They had killed his parents. Misty's parents. Their actions had ripped his family apart.

He had never thought his hands would have been shaking so much when he finally came across them. As much as he wanted to run in, beat their collective sorry hides with his team and make them give him the answers he wanted, he knew it was the worst possible idea.

So instead, he pulled out his pokédex and thanking his lucky stars, quickly began sending out his SOS.

'_Grandpa. In Mount Moon. Location attached. Team Rocket goons are here. Dunno what they're doing here.'_

He sent the message before letting himself breathe again.

"... wife's a gym trainer, isn't she? Her boss is probably in our boss' pocket," Goldenrod said with a chuckle that made Gary's skin crawl. "You know that's why we get away with everything in Kanjo, right? Whoever's running Team Rocket has the Kanjo government in their pocket."

Gary's blood turned to ice.

'_They have moles in the League. Send only someone you trust.'_

He had barely even placed the pokédex back in his pocket when he heard movement behind him. Gasping, Gary scuttled across the ground. Tiny, pointed stones bit into his hands.

"Garrett," a voice whispered.

Gary looked up and felt his jaw drop at the sight of his grandfather. He was still wearing his lab coat and was still clutching onto a mug with steaming hot coffee.

"How-" Gary started.

"Not now," Professor Oak whispered. He glanced over his shoulder, where Gary caught the outline of one of his grandfather's oldest pokémon. Her fur was streaked with silver. Rather than walking, she had begun levitating everywhere whilst sitting with her legs crossed.

Gary felt the milky-white gaze of his grandfather's alakazam on him. He noticed an abra attached to her shoulders, wrapped around her almost like a scarf.

There was a gentle nudge in his mind, like he had suddenly become aware of something that was in front of him all along.

_Garrett_. Nyx's voice was soft, reminding him of his grandmother. _How rare to see you making a smart decision_.

"Nyx," Professor Oak said, before Gary could quite process what had happened. "Blackout."

Gary expected many things.

What he was not expecting, however, was to blink and watch every single living being in the cavern _drop_. Every person he saw hit the ground at the exact same time, like dolls having their strings cut.

"Grandpa?"

Professor Oak took a sip of his coffee. There was no humour in his face. He looked every bit his age, and then some. "Garrett," he sighed. He rubbed his temples with his free hand. "Thank you. I know many your age may be brazen, rash, quick to leap in and think that they're capable of handling threats on their own. I'm pleased that you weren't one of them. If something had-" His voice hitched before he cleared his throat. "Regardless, I'm here now."

Gary threw himself at him, wrapping his arms around his waist. He felt his grandpa's free hand rest on his back, between his shoulders. For a moment he could pretend that he was somewhere else, that he had been far more composed and prepared to find Team Rocket _actually_ operating, and not just rumours of them in a horrific tragedy.

His grandpa tapped him on the back. Gary let go and followed after him without questioning. The two agents he had heard talking had turned towards them at some point, but were face-down on the ground, out cold. Gary looked around and saw that even the pokémon in the cavern were unconscious. He glanced back at Nyx and frowned at the way she managed to look directly at him, though also _through_ him at the same time.

She floated along behind them silently. Six silver spoons circled above her slowly, like the planets rotating around the sun. Her long, flowing beard reminded him of a stereotypical kungfu master. It danced in a phantom breeze, like a frillish floating beneath the sea.

"Why did you come?" Gary asked. "I mean, why not… I don't know. I just didn't expect you."

"I've already lost far too many of my family to these people." It was almost like watching a shadow puppet his grandfather's body. Gary could never remember him being so _detached_, so filled with a barely-contained rage and loathing. "And if what you heard is to be correct, I can't think of anyone to trust more than myself - and my pokémon, of course."

"So what do we do now?" Gary asked.

"I'm going to find what information I can from these people." Professor Oak stopped walking and took another sip of his coffee just before his alakazam _appeared_ in front of him. Like before, there was no sound, no light to announce the teleportation. Gary knew that strong psychics could manage such a feat, but to see it performed in front of him so casually was equal parts humbling and inspiring.

"Nyx is going to teleport you to Cerulean, and you can continue on your journey far away from these dangers."

"Oh _hell_ no," Gary hissed. He stomped towards him, heedless of the way Nyx turned her unseeing gaze towards him. The abra on her shoulders perked up and seemed to look his way, though its eyes were still closed. "You are _not_ locking me out of this, grandpa. _I_ found them down here, I deserve to know what's going on."

"Garrett-"

"Come on Grandpa. You and I both know anyway that if you get rid of me, I'll just find a way to come back here."

Gary heard something suspiciously along the lines of, 'too much like your father' before Professor Oak sighed. "Garrett-"

"_Grandpa_." Gary matched his tone and went as far as placing his hands on his hips. "Your alakazam is _literally_ blind and you're so old you remember Giratina being banished to the Distortion World. Either you let me help now, or you'll never hear the end of me telling you 'I told you so' when you miss something important."

"Fine." His head was buried in a hand even as he continued to drink his coffee. "Nyx," he groaned, not looking up from his mug. "Could you help?"

Gary froze as the alakazam floated over to him. For a moment he had the horrible suspicion that his mind was about to be wiped and he was going to wake up in Cerulean, none the wiser.

Her got the distinct impression that Nyx found something terribly amusing. She reached up to the abra on her shoulders and made a show of floating it off of her and towards him.

_This is Ulric_, she said. The abra spun around slowly in the air, still sleeping. _He'll watch over you_.

Gary held his arms out, though instead Nyx floated Ulric gently onto Gary's shoulders. "Oh yeah, I can see he's really observ- _ow!_"

A burst of pain resonated from his shins. Both of them felt like something had driven into them. He bent over to rub at them and found nothing there.

Once again, however, he felt distinctly like the ancient alakazam was mocking him. He grumbled as he turned away from the creature, stopping only to shift his shoulders under the unfamiliar additional weight.

"Stay where I can see you," Professor Oak said. His coffee cup had vanished. In the light of the cavern, Gary could see that his lab coat seemed to have changed and was once again pristine. A single poké ball hung from a necklace he wore, and he could see the indents from several more balls in his lab coats' pockets. "We don't know what's waiting for us here."

"Oh yeah. Ancient bones and random pieces of paper. _Spooky_." He waggled his fingers in the air as he snorted, though inside he was quaking. It had all seemed too easy. On some level he knew that Team Rocket had existed for years by covering their tracks almost perfectly.

He approached the first table he saw and poked at a piece of paper experimentally. Nothing happened. He let out a sigh of relief. It even felt like the abra on his shoulders relaxed a little more. He glanced at the top paper and felt his eyes begin to glaze over. It was just an inventory report, mostly detailing how much soil they'd moved, estimates of later costs, and a note to arrange for someone to come and clean the septic tanks as soon as possible.

There was, however, a small pink post-it note attached to the paper. The writing on it was gaudy, with little love hearts dotting the 'i's.

'_Still tracking 18-3-0520. Shows initial signs of advanced empathy. No signs of inheriting other genetic material.'_

Gary pocketed the note without thinking about it. He found another pile of papers, this time with an old, weathered looking fang weighing them all down. Gary picked up the tooth and turned it over in his hands. It still had some traces of dirt on it and had been chipped at one point, though the cause of that was unknown to Gary.

"Wonder what you came from," Gary said. "Either way, I bet-"

_Move._

"What the-?" Gary's body was moved for him. He had barely even turned around when the marquee above him _exploded_ in a shower of metal splinters and fabric. The energy that passed above him was cold, unsettling.

Gary's face met the floor and he tried his best to move. It felt like there was another person sitting on his back, pressing him down.

_Not safe._

"Ulric?" Gary whispered.

Rocks _shattered_. Gary gasped as the ground beneath them _moved_. His body moved without his control. He leaped into the air. A hole in the earth appeared where he just was. The ground rose up to swallow all the evidence of Team Rocket's plans.

"Grandpa!" Gary screamed. The ground beneath them quaked. His teeth rattled as he tried to get to his feet. The cave _groaned_. Dust and pebbles rained from the ceiling.

Gary saw a flash of a poké ball's light. There was another unfamiliar pressure on his mind.

Gary ducked and the rock wall behind him exploded in a shower of stones and sand.

He gasped as he fled. His attention was drawn to the precipice beneath him. He saw a large, brown furred raticate. Its face was pulled into a twisted, evil grimace that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"My, my, my." There was a woman behind the raticate, though her legs were almost completely obscured by the beast's hulking form. She had long blonde hair, pulled down into two pigtails that reached her hips. Her sleeveless black top clung to her body, as if it had been painted on. Long, pristine white gloves reached her elbows, matching the glorified belt of a skirt that she wore. "Two generations of nosy troublemakers. I don't usually like killing kids, but you've left me no choice. Raticate, deal with them!"

Gary watched his oncoming doom in slow motion. The earth rose around the pokémon. Pebbles spun around it in a fast, violent orbit. Black, shadowy energy formed in its mouth. Even from a distance, Gary could feel the _wrongness_ that washed off of it.

The pokémon fired.

The shadows around him closed in for the kill.

Then suddenly, everything stopped.

Gary opened his eyes, unable to remember closing them. He had been in the process of flinching, trying to hide himself from the oncoming blast.

Instead his grandfather's alakazam floated between him and the shadowy, _evil_ energy. All six of her spoons were glowing silver. The energy was contained. The shadows were being held in place.

Then with a flick of her wrist, the attacks just _vanished_.

Gary's jaw dropped. He was certain the woman's did too. Nyx floated up into the air between them, energy pouring off of her in invisible, pressurised waves.

The cave _rumbled_. Each rock that fell from the ceiling was held in place by an invisible force.

He barely caught the woman's mutter of, "Oh shit," before he saw his grandfather walking towards them from the other side of the cavern. His lab coat was stained with dirt. A hole had burned through the right sleeve, and the left one was torn off at the elbow.

"Did you really think," his grandpa said, voice soft and yet carrying its deadly intent perfectly, "that you could attack my country, my pokémon, _my grandson_ and expect to walk away unscathed?!"

By his feet was a small brown bird. It glared down at the woman as it twirled the long green leek in its wing.

"What did you do with Butch?" the woman hissed.

Professor Oak smiled. It set every one of Gary's fight or flight instincts to firmly agree on _getting the hell out of there._

"Dux," Professor Oak said calmly, "destroy."

The farfetch'd _moved_. It appeared behind the raticate and brought its leek down on the ground behind it.

The earth split open and swallowed the pokémon whole.

With a squawk Dux took to the air. The cave seemed to grow darker. An iridescent nebula exploded into life in the middle of the cavern. A rainbow of colours swirled before their eyes. The rocks around them withered and began to crumble into dust. The metal tables began to melt. Stalactites melted into molten hot lava.

The woman screamed as her gloves caught fire. Gary smelled her skin burning. Her screams echoed in his ears. He had to close his eyes and turn away.

Abruptly, everything stopped.

He opened his eyes to find the woman face down on the dirt, unconscious. Dux quacked before slamming its leek down on the earth once more. The earth vomited up the raticate, like pus seeping out of a popped spot.

The silence was broken by a very weary-sounding sigh from Nyx.

_I am not as young as I used to be._

Gary was uncertain if he was meant to hear such a comment, but was still too numb to think of a response to it. He was so engrossed in the display of power that he had failed to notice his grandfather moving to his side, and nearly leaped out of his skin when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Garrett," his grandfather said, his expression stern. "I'm glad you contacted me."

Gary nodded, his mind still so sluggishly processing what he had just seen that even words failed him. The farfetch'd, which only reached up to Gary's knees, waddled towards them with such a carefree expression that Gary found it almost impossible to picture it as the titan he had just seen.

_That_ was a champion-level pokémon, several years into retirement. The thought made Gary's mouth dry. He remembered being much, much younger and always begging his grandpa to see his old team of pokémon. Each time his grandpa had refused, telling him that they were much too dangerous to play with.

For the first time, Gary understood exactly why.

"I found these," he said, numbly offering up the post-it and the ancient fang he had found. "I… uh…"

His grandfather's expression darkened as he read the note. "Genetic modification? They wouldn't. Not after-"

He cut himself off by clearing his throat. "This seems to be an ancient pokémon's tooth," he said, turning it over in his hands. He offered it to Nyx at her silent request and bent down to ruffle to feathers of his farfetch'd. The small bird chirped as it twirled its leek like a baton. He recalled it before standing up with a long, exhausted groan. "I think I know what this belongs to. Leave it with me, Garrett. I need to speak with someone about this mess anyway."

"Yeah, about this," Gary said. He looked around at the destruction and winced, thankful there had been no wild pokémon in the area. Dux's attack had reduced most of the cave's features to cinders. He saw bits of molten metal sill chewing their way through the rocky ground. The woman and her raticate were floating in the air, bound by Nyx's will, even as the alakazam's attention was on the fossilised fang rotating slowly in the air in front of her unseeing eyes.

"What're we gonna do about _this_?" Gary asked, sweeping a hand towards the carnage.

"Leave it with me," his grandfather said. "Nyx will drop you off in Cerulean, or anywhere other city you wish to go to. I want to find out _exactly_ what was going on here, and I have a feeling I'm going to be calling several old friends to get some answers."

Gary could hardly fail to notice the way his grandfather's face twisted in unbridled disgust at the unconscious woman floating nearby. He remembered Agatha's romanticised stories of their battles when they were back in their prime. Now they no longer seemed as fantastical as they once did.

"Grandpa?" Gary waited until he was certain that his voice would remain even. "I'm going to get strong enough to surpass you. I won't be happy until I'm able to dismantle their organisation all by myself."

"If that's what you want," his grandfather said. "I won't pretend that I'm happy with it, or that I won't worry about you, but you have my support either way." He swept him up in a crushing hug before Gary could argue, or even remind him of the abra on his shoulders. "Just don't forget that I'll answer whenever you call. If you want to ask me about pokémon, talk about training, or even if you want to tell me about a strange dream you had or ask me about girls, I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks, Grandpa."

_If you both become emotional, I'm leaving without you_.

"Nyx," Professor Oak said, laughing.

_Stay._

Gary started and placed his hands on the abra on his shoulder. His grandfather let go of him and gave them both a curious look before glancing at his alakazam.

"Well," his grandfather said, with a tone Gary recognised as his _I knew this was going to happen_. "It would appear you gained another ally today."

_Stronger. _Ulric's telepathic voice was nowhere near as strong as Nyx's, reminding Gary of a phone with low volume. _Together_.

Team Rocket was real. It was thrilling and frightening to know such a fact. It made his heart race even as it made his palms sweat.

He knew he had a long way to climb before he reached the top. It would be a gruelling process. Seeing the strength of Team Rocket both scared and inspired him.

"You know it, buddy," Gary said with a smirk. "I'll be the youngest ever Champion, and you'll be part of my elite team. Team Rocket doesn't know who they're messing with."


	11. Lithification - I

Pewter city was known as the City of Stone for good reason.

_Everything_ was a dull, bland grey. The buildings were uniform in their structure. Every street looked identical. Every house was a two storey terrace. Every office building was five floors high, with wall-length windows on each floor. Every person that walked down the street was dressed smartly and conservatively. Men wore suits, all various shades of grey. The women wore blazers and skirts, their white blouses reaching their neck lines.

Never one to blend in, Jessie leant back in her chair, unbuttoning another button on her blouse as she did so. Her bright, vivid red hair already set her apart from the locals. She found the way they _stared_ at the hint of her bra endlessly entertaining. Men and women both ran their eyes along the length of her legs; staring for just a moment too long at the skirt that was nearly painted on.

She took a sip of her coffee and left a fresh red lipstick mark on her cup. She scowled as she wiped away the thin layer of grit that had formed over her white jacket. As the wind blew in Pewter, it brought with it more powdered stone from the quarries. After only an hour in the city, Jessie felt like she needed to shower twice and wash her clothes thrice.

A hand took the back of the metal chair opposite her. Her face fell into a stoic mask as another woman with hair as red as blood took a seat opposite her. Like Jessie, she stood out from the crowd. Unlike Jessie, she wore jet black leather that seemed almost like it had been poured over her body. The jacket clung to her body perfectly, accentuating her features. The trousers she wore bled into the heeled boots that reached her thighs.

"Jessie," she greeted, sitting down. She raised an eyebrow at the cup of black coffee waiting for her and took an experimental sip, grunting an amused sound when she deemed it worthy of drinking. "I see you delight in making the locals as uncomfortable as ever."

"Naturally," Jessie replied, smirking. "So, what can I do for you, Ma'am?"

"Call me Arianna, please, less of the ma'am. You make me feel forty years older than I am," she replied, waving a hand at her. She leant back in her seat, crossing her legs demurely. "I'm always Mother, Ma'am or Boss. If people stop using my name, I'm going to forget who I am."

"As you wish, Arianna," Jessie said, sipping at her coffee again. "How are things with your son? I won't pretend I haven't heard that he ran away. You're something of an inspiration to a lot of us, managing to juggle a family with a gym leader whilst keeping them in the dark as to your true work." Jessie smiled. "It gives the rest of us hope that we might be able to do something just as normal, one day."

"Oh? Usually when people talk about me, it's less than pleasant things," Arianna said, sighing a long-suffering sound. Jessie watched the way her face contorted into a scowl perfectly suited to scare away the waiter that had been approaching their table. It was a skill. "Markus has finally decided to take the initiative in impressing his father. I've been hinting since he was old enough to journey that he would never attain his father's approval from just battling him. Sadly, he inherited my stubborn streak." She sighed once more before straightening; all hints of weakness abolished in the time it took Jessie to blink. "Now, Jessie, I'd like to hear what your team have discovered so far."

"Nothing too impressive," she replied, mentally skimming through the report she had submitted just the night before. "Seems to have an innate ability to make pokémon understand normal speech, though that could be from any number of factors. James wants concrete evidence on any potential abilities before we assign them to _1-11-0520_." She scooped up a spoonful of sugar and dumped it in her coffee, stirring the spoon whilst keeping eye contact. She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs like Arianna and leaned her elbows on the table. "I assigned one of the grunts to release a pokémon taken from the last detainee who discovered our Celadon operation. The fact that it's a non-endemic to this region guaranteed its capture. We intended to monitor its growth and establish a working baseline from there, but it was caught by non-priority target."

"Plans go wrong all the time," Arianna said with a smile. "What's important is plans for when they go wrong."

Jessie nodded. "I have other ideas, but none that I can spring quite yet. James has other ideas he's working on, so does Meowth. We agreed that this was the easiest plan to enact that had the lowest risk of jeopardizing the operation."

"Very well," Arianna said, waving over a waiter. She ordering a sandwich for herself that Jessie knew was _not_ on the menu and a selection of cupcakes to sate herself with in the meantime. Dismissing the waiter afterwards with a wave, she waited until they were alone once more before continuing, "You seem to be making good progress with this assignment. In the meantime, I have another task for the three of you that will require focusing yourselves elsewhere."

With a gesture Jessie was familiar with, she demanded her phone. Jessie obliged without thinking, placing her assigned phone in Arianna's waiting palm.

"I'm uploading all the particulars to your phone now," she said, placing her phone on top of Jessie's and leaving them on the table between them. "It has come to light that certain individuals may have discovered a project we've been working on in the tunnels beneath the Silver Expanse."

Jessie managed not to betray her surprise to that. It was the first she had heard of _anything_ to do with operations in that area. Mount Silver was dangerous enough, but the Expanse? Her legs felt weak at the thought. It was a little-known fact that Sinnoh's venture into the underground networks had discovered that all the highest-threat areas were connected by a series of underground tunnels.

No one knew how or when the networks had been established. They were only certain of one thing; they were _man-made_.

One could theoretically walk from Cerulean Cave to the Terminus System in Unova, all underground. In reality, such a feat was beyond impossible. Jessie, like many who were privy to the truth of reality, believed that the idea of hell had been coined by people who had witnessed the horrors beneath with their own eyes. According to Champions and Elites who had journeyed down to the depths of the high-threat areas and established the defences and guards to keep the monsters from emerging, acid lakes, poisonous gases and magma rivers were amongst the _least_ life-endangering phenomena that could be encountered down there.

"We need a small strike squad to go in and assess the threat," Arianna continued. "You three will proceed to our base of operations, re-establish comms and report on what you find."

"Re-establish comms?" Jessie echoed, not liking the sound of that _one bit_.

"All attempts of communicating with the team down there have been unsuccessful," Arianna said, her tone making it seem as if she were discussing something trivial. "Given the feral pokémon that live nearby, this sometimes occurs. We merely need to make certain that nothing has broken containment."

_Broken containment? What the hell are they doing down there?_

"Very well," Jessie said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I'll assign a grunt team to shadow in our place until we return."

"Good," Arianna said, handing Jessie back her phone. "I won't pretend that this mission will be a cakewalk. This is a test, Jessie. You're performing well so far - you and your team. If you want to progress any higher though, we need to know you can handle yourselves, even if you're out of your depth."

_So you throw us in at the deep end?_

"I understand."

"Excellent. I look forward to our next meeting." Arianna smiled at her as Jessie stood, tucking her chair beneath the table. "Do take care Jessie. The best way to prove your worth is to show us you're indispensable. Badges acquired under a false name will only take you so far."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, Arianna." Bowing before she left, Jessie turned and walked at a brisk pace. She would _not_ let anyone see her fear - least of all her boss. Taking deep breaths to still her nerves, she clenched her hands into fists and strolled into the first shop she found.

Slamming the bottle of vodka down on the counter, she proceeded to count out the correct number of bills to pay for it.

"It's eight in the morning!" the shop owner protested. He was a short, balding man that had the unfortunate problem of being _directly_ between Jessie and what she wanted. "I can't sell you this!"

"Fine," Jessie growled, swiping the bottle. "I guess I'll just _take_ it instead."

She strolled out of the shop, ignoring the way he screamed after her. She unscrewed the cap and drank deeply as she continued to walk. She stopped when she needed to breathe again and sighed, wiping away the liquid that had spilled down her chin. Glancing at the bottle, she laughed to herself as she saw it was half-finished already.

"In for a penny," she muttered, downing the rest. She tossed the bottle aside when she was done, embracing the warm buzz that it provided. Noticing the way people looked at her, she scowled, shoving past them. "Shove your judgement," she hissed, stomping back to her team. They would be just as _thrilled_ as she was to learn what their latest assignment was.

Mount _Fucking_ Silver.

It had to all be connected. It _had_ to be. She listened to the same drivel countless times, that her mother had vanished twenty years ago on a mission in the Andes, never to be seen again.

Yet Jessie was nothing if not dedicated to discovering the truth in every matter. She had found the reports, tucked away in a dusty old records room, due to be uploaded on a back-up computer in the middle of nowhere in the Sevii Isles.

The last known sighting of her mother was eight years ago, on Mount Silver. After that there had been nothing, no shred of evidence, as if she had just vanished into thin air.

Right up until the point James had gifted her the best present she had ever received. Her mother had to still be alive and either using Mount Silver as a base, or rerouting her comms through there.

Her promise to herself the day she was told her mother was presumed dead had never left her mind. One way or another, she was going to discover what really happened to her. It was her reason for joining Team Rocket in the first place, the reason that kept her fighting.

If she had to take over Team Rocket to find out the truth? Jessie would burn the organisation to the ground to get the answers she sought. She was more than happy to treat them as disposable, much like they treated everyone else.

**-0-0-0-**

Brock was _bored_.

He would have liked to have blamed it simply on the fact that it was a Monday. Unfortunately, running a gym and looking after nine siblings was a twenty-four seven job. He was sat in his office, staring at the pile of paperwork atop his desk - a desk that was covered in so much paper that even he had begun to forget what it looked like underneath. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes, wondering - not for the first time - if he could afford to take a day off 'sick' and hide in bed.

At that moment, however, his intercom buzzed, as if the world itself were informing him he could never catch a break.

"Brock, sir." Brock could remember hiring Cindy because once upon a time, he thought her voice was beautiful, like a symphony of angels. More recently he had begun to wonder if she was secretly a demon in disguise, sent to torment him further. "You have a visitor. He's on his way to your office now."

"Um, what?" Brock had to try and find the intercom, buried as it was beneath his desk. At some point, apparently, it had fallen off the flat surface and now instead dangled haphazardly by a single wire. "Did you not get a name? Check for credentials? How do they even know where my office is?"

He jumped to his feet as the person knocked on the door to his office. Before Brock could even answer, the door was already opening.

Any thoughts of bringing the intruder down to size vanished the moment he recognised him.

"Grandpa Hala!"

Overjoyed, Brock bounced towards him and threw his arms around him. He smelt like the ocean breeze, as always. Though it was strange to see him in a bright white kimono, instead of his usual floral shirts, like all his clothes, they seemed to strain around his arm and chest muscles.

"Takeshi!" Hala grinned as he rubbed his head. "Good to see you." Laughing, he held him out at arm's length. "You've grown again."

Brock smiled back at him. "You've gotten more grey."

Hala smiled as he ran a hand through his long, once jet black hair. Pulled back into a ponytail, it was now peppered with streaks of grey. Even his goatee and eyebrows were slowly succumbing to the perils of age.

"I'm getting old, Takeshi. It happens."

"Grandpa, I've seen you wrestle hariyama for entertainment before. You getting old is not something I believe can happen." His smile, displaying his brilliantly white teeth, was positively infectious. Brock found that his boredom felt like the distant memory of ages past. "So why are you here? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you. I just thought your responsibilities meant you couldn't leave so easily?"

"Ordinarily, yes." Hala's good humour seemed to deflate, just slightly. He sat down in Brock's chair and leant back, relaxing into the black leather. "There are many reasons why I am here. Some are good." He produced a pink poké ball similar to those Brock had seen made by Kurt in Johto, and placed it on the desk, atop Brock's keyboard. "Some, not so good," he continued, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair and tenting his fingers.

"Ah," Brock said, momentarily lost for words. He knew that asking about the poké ball would be the obvious course of action. It felt wrong, like it was a trap. Instead he asked, "How are Malie and Hau?"

Hala sighed, the very familiar sound of the world's struggles resting on one pair of shoulders. "They've been better," he admitted. "Hau is good, he's crawling, slowly beginning to walk. His mother? Malie has taken to motherhood like a wingull to water." Sighing, he spun in the chair to look out of the windows.

Brock knew that he had become immune to the drab way in which Pewter had been built. Almost everything was carved from stone, which gave the city a harsh, cutting edge. The dull greys of all the buildings often seemed to absorb the sunlight, making the city constantly seem on the verge of a heavy storm. Reflected in the light from outside, the light Hala seemed to forever possess appeared to have been stripped away, replaced with shadow.

"Your uncle was meant to succeed me as Kahuna for our island. Peni…" Hala sighed as he shook his head, his expression and attention leaving the room, focusing elsewhere. "I don't know why, he has his reasons, I suppose. He stole off into the night, leaving his family behind with only a letter for company."

It felt like a blow to the stomach. It was far, _far_ too close to home to hear this. His parents were many things, but Brock had always assumed them to be the outliers in an otherwise happy family. He had _never_ thought that Uncle Peni could do such a thing - he had seemed so in love on his wedding day that Brock had honestly cried tears of jealousy, hoping that one day he could feel such joy.

"Grandpa," Brock whispered. "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"Unfortunately, dear boy, there's nothing that _can_ be said to that," Hala whispered. "I had hoped that one of my other sons would have heard from him, but it seems that he hasn't even reached out to them."

Brock felt his jaw tense, despite his best efforts to stay relaxed. "Oh," he said, through gritted teeth, "you spoke to _Flint_ then?"

"He _is_ my son," Hala answered. "Though he may have walked out on you and your siblings, that does not invalidate all those years I spent raising him." Though he was sat down, when he looked up and met Brock's eyes, he made him feel infinitely smaller in comparison. "Tell me, Takeshi, if you truly feel hatred towards him - and I would understand if you did - why do you continue to allow him to peddle his wares in the city lines?"

Flummoxed, Brock felt his jaw open and close as he searched for words.

"I may not live in your cities or run one of your gyms, Takeshi, but I know the way that they work," Hala said, face deadly serious. "I know that any market vendors must have an approved licence to sell their goods. I also know that at any time, a gym leader may revoke that licence and issue a notice of relocation for the individual. Now answer me; why, if you hate your father so, do you allow him to remain so closeby?"

"Because... " Brock sighed as he struggled for an answer. He wanted to lie, to say that he wanted to watch Flint suffer and be forced to sell trinkets to tourists, but he knew that was just petty. "I _hate_ him," Brock growled. "Him and Mom. They both left. Mom said that we were holding her back from her dreams. Dad? He just _vanished_. It was only afterwards that we found out he'd handed in his notice with the League.

"If it wasn't for Uncle Bruno stepping in and helping me, I don't know what would have happened here," Brock admitted. "He's the one that taught me how to run this gym. He helped me with all the paperwork so that everyone had access to childcare, so that I could come here and make the money we needed to feed ourselves. I'm sorry Grandpa, I know you don't like it when any of us swear, but Dad _fucked_ us over."

He heard the sharp inhale of breath and flinched, though he found the floodgates of his thoughts, now opened, were not easily shut. "I was twelve, Grandpa, _twelve._ I should have been travelling and seeing the world, but Mom left when I was ten, so I delayed that to help him through it. Just when I thought he was better, he _left_. I never got to have a childhood. I'm fifteen and I'm responsible for an entire _city_.

"I've spent so long hating them both that I honestly can't remember ever loving them in the first place," he admitted. "But… I never want Forrest or any of the others to feel this way. I'm the eldest, I'm the big brother. I'm the one that shoulders the pain and smiles through it so that they never have to worry. Forrest isn't stupid - he knows how I feel. I know he goes to visit Flint every so often, to let him know how we're all doing. That's his choice. I'd never tell him not to. At least with Flint there, he can make an effort with them. Everyone else can have a chance for a relationship with him that honestly, I don't think I'll ever want."

Hala was quiet for a very long time after that, staring at Brock. Honestly, he thought that he would have jumped to his feet, cursing at him for daring to swear in front of him. In the silence that presented itself instead, Brock felt like his laboured breaths were deafening. He was worried that at any moment, he may burst into tears. They were feelings that he had never told anyone - not Uncle Bruno, not even _baa-baa's_ grave.

"You know, I first came to Kanto when I was sixteen," Hala said, his voice gentle, his words slow. "I had recently completed the Island Challenge back home and defeated all the Kahunas of my time. I wanted to prove that I was the strongest in the world. My father, your great-grandfather, was a proud user of fighting pokémon. I wanted to do him proud.

"I came to Kanto so long ago that your Professor Oak was the current Kanto Champion. In my head I was going to defeat all the gym leaders here, then defeat the Elites. This was back when Kanto and Johto was Kanjo, before it split into two." He sighed, his eyes almost glazing over. "I defeated every gym leader I came across, by happenstance leaving the leader in this very city until last.

"When I arrived here, the previous gym leader has retired a week before. Instead in his place was a young woman, no older than I. She was beautiful," he said, his smile almost stretching to his ears, "and of course I, in my hotheaded youth, thought that this was an insult. That she was a new leader, and I was going to demolish her and her rock pokémon.

"Instead she gave me the most thorough beating I have ever received in my career as a pokémon trainer."

Brock snorted a laugh, despite himself.

"Precisely," Hala said, laughing. "You've already guessed it, but that beautiful woman was your grandmother. I was incensed, determined to regain my honour. I trained for weeks, night and day, all with the intent of beating her. Once a month I would challenge her to a rematch and once a month she would defeat me. Each time I grew closer to defeating her, though each time she found a new way to beat me.

"Finally, one winter evening, I walked into the gym, only to be told that she was not there. Instead I was given directions to one of the local shrines, where I was told she was waiting. Being the seventeen year old hothead that I was - and it had taken so long that by this point, my birthday had come and gone - I marched right up there, intent on defeating her once and for all.

"Instead when I got there, I found that there was no shrine. Instead it was a cliff, overlooking the sea. I had arrived as the moon was at a high point, reflecting brilliantly off the ocean's surface. Your grandmother was sat atop a blanket, with a picnic basket by her side. She smiled when I arrived, no doubt because my face was full of confusion. She told me that she was tired of only ever getting to see me when I wanted something from her and that for once, she wanted something from me. She told me that I had two choices that night. One was that I returned to training, only to see her when I wanted a gym battle. The other…"

He coughed into his hand, colour rising in his cheeks. "Well, suffice it to say, I chose the latter option and before I knew it, I was in love."

Brock's smile was beginning to hurt his cheeks. "You know, you never told me how you guys met."

Hala's smile dimmed, just slightly. "Honestly? Talking about her used to hurt. I know it's only been a few short years, but the pain still feels fresh. I wake up most mornings still expecting to see her beside me, wondering if I'll find her downstairs, singing as she stomps around in the garden with her golem."

"He's still here, you know," Brock said. "Her golem. I let him roam around most of the time, but he gets to battle the high levelled challengers."

"She would like that," Hala said, his smile returning. "Yoshiko always did worry about what her pokémon would do when she was gone." As he stood, he took the poké ball from the desk and held it out towards Brock. "When your grandmother and I were younger, we travelled Alola so that I could show her the pokémon there. She fell in love with the geodude native to our region, though she never did manage to catch one. I had forgotten all about it, until I found this poké ball in her belongings. When I saw it… I had to catch one, for her. I cannot think of anyone better suited to train a pokémon in her memory than the one who works tirelessly to uphold her family's legacy."

"Grandpa," Brock whispered, taking the poké ball from him. "I… I don't…"

"You don't have to say anything," Hala said, hugging him. Pressing his face into Hala's chest, Brock felt the first of the tears begin to fall. "Just promise me that you will think on what it is _you_ want to do. You have sacrificed so much for the sake of your siblings. Your grandmother would not want you to suffer, just to maintain her family's gym"

"But Grandpa,"

"But nothing," Hala said. "Life and time are precious things. Don't waste them living a life that is not your own." He rubbed Brock's hair again before letting him go. "Just remember that when someone is gone, there is no going back. The things that you have left unsaid will forever remain so. Those things you told me? You need to tell your parents. Both of them. Sometimes parents need to hear some home truths before they can get over their own idiocy."

Brock stared at the poké ball in his hands, his mind flooded with more questions than he knew what to do with.

"Is that what it took for you and Uncle Bruno to start talking again?"

Hala sighed, good humour deflating. "That is a story for another time, my boy," he said, patting him on the shoulders. "In the meantime, humour this old man. You know where your father is. Talk to him."

"I… I can't make any promises," Brock said. "But I'll think about it."

"Then for now, that's the best I can hope for," Hala said. "I'll come back to see you and everyone else tonight, when we have more time. I wanted to see you first though, to make certain you were alright."

Brock laughed, surprising even himself with how bitter it sounded. "Honestly Grandpa? I can't remember the last time that I felt alright."

"And that, dear boy, is just another failure I can add to my list," Hala said, shaking his head. "You can change your name to spite him, Takeshi, but you will always be his son. He does love you, even if he is too afraid to show it."

"I'll think about it," Brock repeated. "For now, that's all I can do."

**-0-0-0-**

Pewter city was _amazing._

Ash had never seen a city so big, so full of life and people. He almost danced down the street as he spun around, intent on seeing everything possible. The buildings, all built from stones mined from the local quarry, made the city almost blend into the surroundings. It was entirely different to Viridian - Pewter _felt_ different; old, almost. Like there was a sense of tradition that people moved with, like they took pride in their city.

After nearly a week in the forest, he was glad to be rid of it. Once Bugsy had left, Ash had found Misty and Samurai again, and spent the next hour afterwards having all his mistakes listed to him. Once, he would have argued back. However even a week later, the pain of thinking he lost Butterfree was still too new. They had spent the rest of the week training, until Misty decided that she had spent enough time around all the bugs, and even Ash had to admit he was looking forward to moving on and getting away from the forest.

Now they had returned to civilisation, it felt like he was seeing everything with a brand new perspective. Ash's eyes were wide as he stared into a storefront, marvelling at all the glittering stones displayed in the window.

"They're just trinkets," Misty told him, though her face was also pressed up against the glass. "Pretty, but worthless."

"That doesn't matter," Ash said, "I'm just looking anyway." From his shoulder, Pikachu voiced his opinion. Ash nodded, pointing at the golden stone glistening in the sunlight. "Yeah, that almost does look like a crown. We could make you one when we beat the gym leader here."

"You realise you're going to struggle, don't you?" Misty asked. She pushed herself off the glass and wiped her handprints with the sleeve of her dark blue hoodie. "Brock's a trainer of rock pokémon. In Kanto, most of them are also grounded, which means everything but your mankey are going to struggle. If he doesn't beat everything, you're going to have a tough time beating anything."

"Well who cares if a pokémon is strong or weak because of their typing?" Ash shot back. He met Pikachu's eyes and grinned. "We'll beat the gym leader no matter what pokémon they use, even if our pokémon are weak against them. In fact, I'll even beat him _without_ using Sun!"

"Ash," Misty sighed. He could practically _feel_ the frustration washing off her as she pressed a hand to her head. "Don't be bone-headed about this. It's your pokémon that will be getting hurt. Your can even borrow my poliwag to battle with if you want. Just ask."

He thought of Bugsy, and how his scizor had effortlessly taken down a dozen pokémon, handling a magmar as if the fact that it was _literally _on fire was a triviality. "Misty, if I can't beat a gym leader with my own pokémon, then what sort of pokémon trainer can I really claim to be?" He reached up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. "You're a strong trainer, you must be able to beat electrical pokémon with yours."

"Well yeah," she said, as if it were obvious, "but that takes lots of dedicated training, the right moves and abilities, the investment of time and energy…"

"Maybe it doesn't have to," Ash told her. He moved out of the way of the crowds, pressing himself closer to the shop's window. "Misty, I saw Bugsy's pokémon take down more than I could dream of _without_ using any special attacks. You've told me before that fighters have found ways to strike ghost pokémon. Psychics can train themselves to be able to use their abilities on dark pokémon. Why is this any different?"

"Because they train for nothing but that!" Misty hissed, her ears burning red. "Ash, no offence, but you're still a newbie at this. I admire your goals, but they're just not achievable."

"And yours are?" he shot back, childishly. As she froze, colour draining from her face, he felt the first note of fear dance in his spine. "Misty, I'm sorry. But what you're telling me can be applied to yourself. You have all these long term goals, but all you're doing is telling me to think short term. I know that if I use Butterfree and Apollo that we might lose. I'm not afraid of that. If I fail, I can adapt, try something new. Misty… you're strong," he said, his voice barely a whisper. He found he lacked the courage to face her directly, so instead he stared across the street, watching the people hurry on their way to work. "You've admitted yourself that you don't know how to be an Elite yet. When you get there, what are you going to do though? How are you going to stay that strong? You're looking so far into the future you're not stopping to see what's in front of you."

He felt her shadow looming over him and swallowed nervously. When he turned to face her, he was surprised to see her face was etched in thought, rather than the anger he expected.

"When did you start saying such smart things?" she asked.

"Dunno," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe I'm just learning?"

"Maybe," she said, her tone betraying her thoughts on that. "I guess I'm just worried that I'm not going to manage to do any of what I plan to do. Maybe that's why I keep changing my mind on my approach and never truly committing to one thing. Failure's a scary thing, Ash, especially when you've already experienced it." She sighed and she leaned her head back, resting it against the stone wall of the shop. "A lot of trainers burn out early. I'm trying to help you so that you don't fail at the first hurdle and give up on your dream, but maybe I'm doing it wrong."

"Misty, you're my friend," he said, smiling widely, "you're saying what you are because you've got my best interests at heart. I know that you mean well, even if it doesn't come out that way straight away." He grinned at her, laughing when he saw her frustration at how she could not help but smile back at him. "I want to be a Pokémon Master, Misty, but I've honestly never really thought about what that means. I think we're both kinda clueless as to how to achieve our dreams.

"But I don't think that mine means beating every trainer and being the strongest one there is," he continued, staring at the sky. He felt Pikachu's constant, rapid heartbeat next to his ear and took comfort in his pokémon's presence. "Kanto has had Champions like that before, hasn't it? Pokémon trainers… the strong ones and _especially_ anyone that says they're a master should help everyone, pokémon and people alike. I know that's what I want to do. I want to explore, to see the world, make friends and be the best trainer I can possibly be for my pokémon.

"I want to try battling gym leaders this way," he said, picturing the scizor, "to show people that pokémon are able to do anything, if they put their minds to it. People probably thought travelling by anything but rapidash was impossible once, and now we have cars. Nothing's impossible Misty."

He was surprised by the sudden pain in his shoulder when she punched him.

"Hey!" he cried, rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"

She was smiling at him, in such a way that her eyes were sparkling. "Because you're good at pep talks. And because it made me think I was about to cry, so I had to do something to pay you back for making me emotional."

"Jeez," Ash muttered, still rubbing his shoulder, "I won't bother next time."

"No, I think you should," she told him, still smiling. "You're good at bringing me out of my own head, helping me to see things from another perspective. When Gary and I talk, sometimes all we do is focus on the bigger picture, we never really take a step back and look at things another way. You're right that I want to be an Elite, but maybe I should start thinking about what _I_ think that responsibility involves. Some people aren't exactly the best role models for how to perform in their role."

Her face betrayed a storm of emotions, none of which Ash could identify. He swallowed nervously at the brewing chaos that he could see developing and hesitantly, reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, almost like a reflex. "Come on, I'll show you to the gym. We'll get you registered and figure out what we'll do until your battle. If we're lucky, it'll only be a week."

"A _week_?" Ash cried. "But I'm ready to battle him _now_! Why do I have to wait that long?"

Misty giggled. "Oh Ash. Gym leaders are people too, you know? They have lives outside of work. You didn't think that they just stay in their gyms all day doing nothing but battling challengers, did you?"

"Of course not!" The defensiveness of his tone was obvious even to him. "But... I bet Gary's already beaten him. And Ritchie, and probably _everyone_ else from Pallet Town!"

"You'll all make it to the same Indigo Conference, don't worry," Misty said. She grabbed him by the side of his rucksack and tugged him lightly. "Now come on. Neither of us will achieve our dreams if all we do is stand here talking about them."


	12. Lithification - II

With a sigh, Brock tried his best to clear his head from any thoughts about work. Sat cross legged in his garden, he found his mind fretting about tomorrow's problems, about the gym battles and the repair work that needed doing, about the calls for help to do with suspicious activity in Mount Moon.

He felt the static tingle of electricity and opened his eyes, smiling at his newest pokémon. It was darker than any normal geodude he had encountered, and its innate magnetic nature had caused iron filings - as well as Forrest's dessert spoon - to attach to its body, forming what appeared to be eyebrows. Brock had already learnt the hard way just how magnetic his new pokémon was - it had wandered too closely to his phone and computer, both of which were now unusable.

"Hey Kalea," Brock whispered. He pressed a hand to his geodude's head, watching as his arm hair reacted as if pulled by invisible strings. "I know Grandpa's looking after everyone so I can take some time off, chill and get to know you better, but my mind just isn't shutting off."

He turned when he heard the _shōji _behind him opening. Expecting one of his siblings, he felt his jaw drop open when instead he laid eyes on a familiar face with bright orange hair.

"Misty!" he cried, leaping to his feet. His geodude grunted, annoyed at being forgotten, though Brock had already moved away from her and had instead wrapped his arms around Misty. She had grown taller, though the top of her head still only reached Brock's chin. She felt thinner than the last time he saw her, though he did notice that unlike his grandfather, Misty was polite enough to not wear her shoes on the _tatami_.

"Hey Ta- Brock," she said, smiling. "It's good to see you." Pulling away, she looked over his shoulder and frowned at his newest pokémon. "Um, did your geodude swallow a magnet? And is that a _spoon_ stuck to its face?"

Laughing, Brock pulled away and gestured to his pokémon. "That's Kalea, she's my newest pokémon. Grandpa's visiting and he gave her to me as a gift. She's an Alolan geodude, so she's electrical instead of grounded."

"Cool," Misty said, her eyes still on the pokémon. "Yeah, I saw your grandpa when I came here. He let me in, said he's going to make tea for us and told me you were out here." She grinned at him again, sliding her hands back into the pockets of her dark blue hoodie as she bounced back a step into the house. "How are you anyway? It feels like I haven't seen you in _ages_!"

"You know," he said, sighing. He recalled his geodude back into her ball before following Misty into the house and closing the _shōji_ door behind him. "Gym's stressful, kids are stressful, living the life my parents failed to deal with. The usual."

"Yeah," she said, her tone suddenly downcast, "I hear you there."

"So how comes you've dropped by?" Brock asked, glancing at the clock. He felt his eyes widen - he had no idea it had gotten so late. The kids would all be in bed already - no wonder why it was so quiet. He guided Misty to the _chabudai_ and knelt opposite her. "And this late?"

"I actually was in your gym today, but you were apparently busy," she said, and though she was frowning at him, he could tell that she did not mean it. "Figured I'd drop by your house instead and well, hope that you still lived at the same place. And that I could remember it."

They both looked up as Hala walked in, carrying a tray with a teapot on and three cups. With a grunt of effort - and of what Brock suspected may have been his age catching up with him - Hala knelt down at the table and placed the tray down.

"Let me, Grandpa," Brock said, arranging the cups and beginning to pour the tea for them. "So how comes you were in my gym?" he asked, glancing back at Misty.

"I'm travelling with someone, a newbie I found," she said, looking between the two of them. "Honestly, I kinda started following him because well… I found him after a flock of spearow had attacked him out on Route One."

Brock stilled and nearly managed to spill the tea he was pouring. Composing himself, he placed the teapot down and offered the cups to each of them before taking his own. "Jeez, that's rough. I thought that problem was sorted a while ago?"

"Apparently not," Misty said with a shrug. "I guess the League is still deciding who's responsible for the areas between Pallet and Viridian. Giovanni's ultra strong and everything, but Professor Oak _is_ a former Champion. Anyway," she said, pausing to sip at her tea, "that's not what surprised me. What did was that his starter pokémon - a pikachu - managed to drive off the flock with an attack that he took point-blank range. I thought he was dead when I found him. But then he got up, as if he hadn't taken a lightning bolt and ran off. The only signs he ever was in any danger was that he's now got a lightning scar underneath each eye."

"Impressive," Hala whispered. "And this boy has no history of his family training electrical pokémon?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Misty confessed. "But he's… well he's a bit naive, to put it nicely, to things about pokémon. Sometimes he comes out with advice that's really smart, and he seems to learn quickly, but there's a lot he doesn't know and honestly, sometimes I'm not even sure he wouldn't know not to go up and annoy a wild pokémon."

"Perhaps the guardian spirits are looking out for him," Hala said. Brock could not help but sigh. In response, Hala raised an eyebrow at him. "Just because Kanto does not believe in them does not make them any less real, Takeshi. They bless our islands and provide us with protection in Alola. Perhaps the same happens over here. Kanto has their own legendary protectors."

"True, it's just that well… we tend to favour more what we can see and prove over here. No offence, Grandpa."

"None taken," he said, smiling widely. "Alola is certainly more intune with its spiritual connections than other lands. Your perspective is the same as many I have heard before. Perhaps one day you'll be presented with the opportunity to expand your worldview."

"Well so long as I'm stuck here, I'm not going to see much," Brock whispered, bitterly.

"Anyway," Misty said quickly, her eyes darting between the two of them, "keep an eye out for him. His battle will surprise you. I don't know how, but he's pushing me to do things that I never thought I'd do."

At Brock's snort, she rolled her eyes. "Quiet, Gutter-Brain. What I meant was that I've actually caught a pokémon that I never thought I'd train. A venipede."

Brock choked on the tea he had been drinking. "A _what_?" he exclaimed. "Aren't they bugs?" Though he had not seen her in the longest time, Misty's fear of bugs was something that everyone who knew her had a story to share about. He had never enquired as to its origins, as asking her what caused such a deep-rooted fear seemed too invasive.

"I know," she said, laughing. "We were arguing about it, and well, he somehow managed to use my own stubbornness against me. I'm still getting used to it, but honestly, it's not as bad as I always imagined."

"That's good," Brock said, sharing her smile. Though inwardly, his mind was ablaze with panic. Venipede were native to Unova and Kanto had strict policies about releasing foreign pokémon for a reason. If they got into the ecosystem, the entire balance of Viridian's forests would be thrown completely. Though he had only ventured to Unova once or twice, he knew of a scolipede's inherent danger. If even one of those started hunting…

"That's not why I'm here though," Misty said, drawing Brock out of his thoughts. "I need some advice. Guidance maybe. Advice?" She growled and shook her head. "I'm not sure what I need, but I know that I'm not going to work it out myself." She met Brock's eyes and he could feel her stare burning into him, that iron conviction he had seen so long ago, when she had sworn to keep her family's gym running after the death of her parents. "I want to become one of the Elites. I know it's a long process, that there's hoops and hurdles I'll have to go through that I've probably never considered, but I need to know. Brock, your uncle is one. Has he ever told you about it?"

"I've never asked," Brock admitted. "I've never thought to, if I'm honest. He's always just been Uncle Bruno. It was only when the gym was suddenly my responsibility that I realised he was even one of the Elites for Kanto."

"Oh," Misty said. The heartbreak was obvious on her face.

"Luckily for you, he has mentioned some of those things to me," Hala said, sipping his tea. A spark of life came back into Misty's eyes and she looked up at him, the epitome of hope. "But first, I want to ask; why is this the goal you desire?"

Misty's face was conflicted, as if she was arguing with herself over the answer she wanted to give. Finally she sighed, and unable to look at his grandpa directly, she stared down at the cup of tea in her hands.

"I want to get stronger, so strong that I don't feel the pain and hurt I've felt so far," she said, never looking up. As if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she blinked and rolled her shoulders, making a face as her joints popped and clicked. "I think that's how it started. But now… I want to use that strength, that ability to not feel pain. I've realised that it was selfish to think only of myself like that. My sisters have been through exactly what I have, if not worse. What's the point in all that power, if you can't use it to help those that have none?" She looked back down at her own hands, as if she were considering what she could do with them.

"And what power might you have?" Hala asked her. "What would make you, as an Elite, stand above trainers that don't specialise in a type of pokémon, yet have enough to fill a team of six?"

Brock was taken aback by his question. It was something that he had seen before, but never thought to question. Pewter would mark the changing of seasons with a tournament dedicated to rock pokémon. Though the seasons would change, the weather subject to random shifts, rocks and the pokémon made from them were unflinching, as if outside of time's immediate grasp. Their tournaments celebrated rock pokémon, with trainers battling using only them.

Yet more than once, a trainer had gotten far - and even won - simply because they had the strength of numbers.

"I love water pokémon," Misty said. "I met one of my cousins recently and he helped me see something, even if he didn't realise he did so. My worldview was always the gym, the pokémon that I had raised and that I knew. But everything is connected. A problem in the middle of the desert may not necessarily seem like it would have repercussions elsewhere, but in time they'll be felt." She placed her cup down and drew the sleeves of her top over her hands, sliding her thumbs through the old, chewed through holes. As she frowned, Brock could almost see the gears working in her mind, attempting to answer Hala's question. "I guess a person with enough water pokémon could probably help in the ocean otherwise." She sighed and shrugged. "I don't know."

Hala, true to form, chuckled as he placed his cup back down and rested a hand gently on Misty's shoulder. "It's good to admit when you feel lost. It shows that you're willing to learn." Taking his hand back, he seemed to be overcome with memories. "The Elites are, in a sense, similar to the Kahunas back in Alola. They are protectors of the people, of everywhere and everything under their charge.

"But they are also experts in regards to their chosen pokémon," he continued, smiling and displaying his teeth. "In addition to being trainers of almost unparalleled power, the Elites have spent so much time with their chosen pokémon that they understand them on a level that no other trainer could, regardless of how many they own."

"I've gathered that much," Misty said, nodding. "My cousin told me that I'd have to deal with threats in the ocean that no one else could handle. I spoke to his friend, who also told me I should make a name for myself, so that people recognise me as a strong trainer. He also recommended that I help the gym leaders out with problems, so that I can gain favour there."

Brock was surprised with the way that she refused to look his way when she said that. He was used to people coming in, seeking his recommendation for various things. He never would have thought that Misty would be one of those, though he supposed, without the backing of her gym now, her name was tarnished, her reputation in tatters. She would be starting from the ground up, except new trainers had the benefit of anonymity. Misty's name was tainted, putting her in a lower position automatically.

"Bruno brought the Fighting Dojo back to Saffron," Hala said. "He worked with them and gave them the ability to meet the psychics of Saffron on equal terms. He worked with his pokémon and designed an entirely new martial art for humans, based on the pokémon he worked with. Lorelei discovered a method for treating frozen pokémon that means it is no longer an always fatal condition. From what I understand of Agatha, she was the first Kantonese trainer to capture and train ghosts, proving they could be something other than poltergeists."

"So what?" Misty snapped. "You're saying that I have to be this ultra smart, ultra strong paragon of _everything_ if I can hope of achieving anything?" Before Brock could try and stop her, she continued, "Why is everyone telling me a different thing? It's like _no one_ can actually give me an answer to this! It's not a hard question!"

"Perhaps that's because there is no one answer to it," Hala said coolly, no traces of a temper. He met Misty's rage with a calm, implacable kindness, as if he were the perfect counter to her raging storm. "There is always more than one way to do something. I would assume that you've been given differing answers because there are a multitude of ways to achieve this goal." He placed a hand on the table between them, is if broaching the distance between them. "My advice would be not to set this as your ultimate goal. It's given you an obvious turmoil that you deal with." Though he was talking to Misty, Brock noticed the way Hala stared at him. "It's alright not to know what to do. Sometimes fate works out in ways that you would not expect. Back home, the island guardians choose their protectors. The most recent was a foreigner, a man who had no desire to respect the traditions, or involve himself in any community. Yet time has proven him to be a perfect choice - he may have not been what we thought should have been given the role, but he turned out to be the person we didn't realise we needed.

"Think of it this way," Hala said, spreading his hands. "Some people believe in the concept of heaven and hell. If they do good things, they get into heaven. Now, does it not mean that their intentions are automatically selfish, if they perform good deeds only for the reward of heaven?"

Misty's face echoed the confusion that Brock felt rattling through his own mind.

"So you're saying that becoming an Elite should be in recognition of what I do to help people, not a reward that I'm working towards?"

Hala smiled, as if he already knew all the answers to the questions they could think of asking.

"What I'm saying is that life is what you make of it. If you spent all of your time performing deeds only for the reward at the end, or if you spend your life suffering so that others may experience joy, will you be able to say the end result is something you will truly appreciate?" The smile left his face as he said, "You have both lost loved ones. Life is a precious, fleeting thing. Don't waste it doing something that you know one day you'll regret or wish you could have done differently."

The silence that descended on them was like a physical weight. Misty stared at the tea leaves in her cup, as if they could answer her problems. Brock too, felt the burden of all his unsaid anger and repressed selfishness swirling.

"I don't quite understand everything you've said, but you've given me a lot to think about," Misty said as she stood. "Thank you. I'll remember what you've told me and do my best to understand it." Glancing at the clock, she winced. "I should go. It's late and I have an early start. Regardless of what I want to do, or what I end up doing, I know I want myself and my pokémon to get stronger." She smiled at Hala. "Brock's told me stories about you, about how he's seen your fighters shrug off psychic attacks that would have crippled other pokémon. One day, I'll get to that level. Until then, I'm dedicated to that goal."

Hala stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes, dedication is all you need."

**-0-0-0-**

The last pokémon centre en route to Mount Silver - affectionately known as _The Healing Gate of Hell _\- was sparser than Jessie had expected. There only seemed to be a team of three people working, so far as she could tell. The chef was also in charge of the daily maintenance, the receptionist on duty also doubled as a cleaner and electrician, and she had seen the only doctor in the building outside, repairing the water pipes.

All three of the workers also had a full set of six poké balls on their belts. Idly, Jessie had considered trying to take them by force. The moment the idea had settled, she had discarded it. These people were surviving out here, without the help of rangers. Hell, they probably _were_ rangers, if they could survive so close to Mount Silver.

"I'll say what we're all thinking; I don't like this," Jessie said. She pushed her spoon across her plate, no longer hungry. She knew that she should eat - who knew how long they would be down in Mount Silver, investigating _whatever_ they were supposed to investigate. Though the more she thought about that, the more her stomach tightened, fear grasping her insides ever tighter. "We've all heard the horror stories. We know that the pokémon in Mount Silver aren't going to be happy with us wandering through their territory."

"Pesky pokémon," Meowth said, smirking, "how dare they have free will."

"_Outrageous!_" James added, slamming a hand down on the table. "It's like… it's like they're _sentient_, with the ability to think for themselves!"

"Oh but we can't have that!" Meowth continued, laughing. Glancing at Jessie, he placed his spoon back on the table. "Jess, just because you're such a control freak doesn't mean the world has to do what you say."

The growl that echoed from her throat would have scared any small pokémon around, were there any. "I am _not_ a control freak!"

"Of course you ain't," Meowth said, smiling. "Just like Jimbo here isn't a brainbox and I ain't a talking pokémon."

Jessie sighed, burying her face in a hand as she did so. "What did I do to get stuck with you buffoons?"

"Hey, if we're about to head into the place where nightmares are made, we're entitled to a few last laughs!" Sobering, Meowth looked at them both. "You both sure we're up for this?"

"We _have_ to be," Jessie whispered. She took a deep breath and stood, grabbing her tray. "I'm going outside for some fresh air."

She left before they could argue, sliding her tray back across the kitchen counter as she went. The pokémon centre, unlike almost all the others that she had ever seen, was a small building, no bigger than some houses that she had seen. The walls were painted white, the floors covered with white laminate flooring. It made the whole building feel too clinical, too impersonal.

As she made her way through the reception, she glanced behind the counter and saw the receptionist sat behind the desk, a soldering iron in her hands and what appeared to be a computer motherboard placed on the desk. As Jessie approached, the woman placed the soldering iron down gently, sighing as she stretched and a series of _pops_ echoed down her back.

"Things must be tough, all the way out here," Jessie said. The receptionist glanced up, tying her long brown hair back into a ponytail as she did so. Shaking her head at her own words, Jessie continued, "Sorry, stupid thing to say. Of _course_ it's tough up here. That's not what I meant. It must be mentally and physically _exhausting_."

"Sometimes," the receptionist admitted. When she smiled, Jessie noticed the way it failed to reach her eyes. Familiar with painting on a smile for the sake of other people, Jessie chose to say nothing. ""If you're heading out on your own, do you mind if I check your ID? Need to make sure you're capable."

"Sure," Jessie said. She slid her ancient, battered ID from her purse and handed it over. "Surely you would have to check that when we arrive?"

"Usually I would, but the local venomoth have only recently moved away after their mating season. The ones around here have horribly corrosive powders that tend to eat through all our systems. When you got here I was a little distracted trying to make a patch job so we'd still have power." She typed commands away on the keyboard, her well-chewed fingers almost a blur. Jessie saw the way her brown eyes widened and knew the question that was coming. "Your badges are Unovan?"

"I was there, before all of _that_ happened," Jessie said, snatching back her card. "I'm not a sympathiser with their agendas - that's one of the reasons I left."

"No, that's not what I meant," the woman said, shaking her head. "I just meant that I didn't realise Unova had twenty gyms able to award badges."

"There used to be more," Jessie said, shrugging. "But when things happened… well so far as I'm aware, they've reformed to have ten or so. I have no desire to go back and check, if I'm honest." Grabbing a poké ball from her belt, she enlarged the device. "But trust me, you have no need to worry about my safety out there."

She activated the ball. Bright white light seemed to fill the reception area, forming the gargantuan shape of her pokémon. The light faded, revealing a pokémon covered in purple scales so dark that they almost seemed as black as night. Though it coiled around her, it still had to duck its head to stop it hitting the roof. Its hooded neck expanded, revealing the ungodly pattern used to scare prey. Jessie had once heard it likened to a twisted, demented clown.

Her arbok's tongue flicked out, tasting the air. Jessie smiled as she ran her fingers along her pokémon's snout, tracing its jawline. Even coiled around her and stooped to avoid the ceiling, her pokémon's tail stretched on for another three feet.

"Impressive snake," the receptionist commented.

"I hear that from all the girls," Jessie said, smirking. The receptionist barked a laugh. "I've got it on good authority that I'm an excellent snake charmer, but I've tamed a cloyster or two in my time."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm Assunta, by the way," the receptionist said. "I'm never really off work whilst I'm here, but if you're bored I know a few ways to stave it away."

"Good to know," Jessie said. "It's most tiresome sometimes, attempting to stave off boredom alone." Grinning, she ran a hand along her arbok's side. "Though I'll leave you alone for now. I think my arbok could do with some exercise, couldn't you, precious thing?" she cooed, turning to her pokémon.

As Jessie turned, her arbok unravelled from around her, content to slither after her. Jessie walked out of the automatic doors to the pokémon centre, inhaling a deep breath of the cold mountain air. No matter how much she breathed in, it never seemed like her lungs were getting enough. Logically, she knew that it was because of the altitude. Her lungs were still performing the same, but the air was thinner, harder to process.

Her arbok squeezed out of the pokémon centre doors, barely able to fit. Jessie smiled as her pokémon coiled loosely around her once more, hooded neck fanning out, warning anything that might dare approach.

"Cleo, sweetie, why don't you find something to eat?" Flicking through one of the handwritten guides she had found in the canteen - possibly belonging to a trainer who had been killed by the mountain's inhabitants, though she tried not to think about that - she found a few notes about some of the local pokémon. "There's apparently nests of doduo nearby. There should be some spearow too." Closing the book, she slid it into the inside pocket of her black hiker's jacket. "Don't be too confident," she warned, cradling her pokémon's face. "The feral pokémon here are dangerous. Just because they look weak, don't be drawn in. Nothing weak survives out here."

Her arbok rested her head on Jessie's shoulder, purring gently. Jessie giggled and embraced her. "Don't you worry about me, darling. I still have the others here to protect me. I'm going to be relying on you a lot in the near future, so I want you to be in prime condition."

Her arbok uncoiled from her and, sharing one last, confirmatory look with her, moved towards the thick grass. Jessie watched after her, smiling whenever her head would appear above the grassline. Despite her pokémon's impressive height, even that was nothing compared to the untamed wilds. A path had been cut into the undergrowth, laid with stones and decorated with ancient, weathered wooden signs that noted the path to the caverns.

Jessie wondered just _how_ people survived up here. The thought of living at such altitude and dicing with death on a daily basis made her stomach bubble with uncertainty. Swallowing her fear, she told herself that she had a duty here - _two_, in fact. Her team needed something from her but more importantly, she had something here that she wanted for herself.

The only problem was, she had no idea where to begin searching for clues.

Jessie glanced at the pokémon centre and, noting where the industrial steel pipes emerged from the side of the building, began to follow them. She knew her arbok would have no problem finding her again and though she worried a little for her pokémon's safety, she knew that Cleo would be perfectly fine. Instead she focused on the pipework, hopeful to where it would lead.

She had, after all, always had a fondness for all things poisonous. She had yet to add a venomoth to her collection, and though she knew catching something as dangerous as that may pose challenges in training it to be obedient, the same could not be said for its young.

Jessie smirked to herself when she saw the industrial night light built into the side of the mountain. It was easily as large as she was, with the remains of burnt skin stuck to its metal cage covering. At the base of it was a large swelling of what appeared to be cotton wool, with a hole at the very bottom.

"Well, she _did_ say it was recently breeding season," Jessie whispered to herself, watching the empty nest. Like most pokémon, she knew that venomoth laid eggs, though they would also build a cocoon as an additional layer of safety.

Grabbing an empty poké ball, Jessie eased her way into the undergrowth. It was easy to tell where the pokémon had been - their poisonous powders had withered the tall grass stalks into thin, black fingers. For a moment Jessie pictured them as skeletal fingers reaching towards the sky, searching for a living being to trap. She shook the thought from her mind, angry at herself for the distraction.

Jessie glanced quickly at the floor, noting the shed skins of adult venomoth. More cautiously, she pushed her way through the grass, careful not to touch the withered stalks.

Sure enough, she found her prey further in. A lone venonat sleeping, hidden beneath the shed husks of its parents. Inwardly, Jessie smiled. If it was smart enough to use a stronger pokémon's discarded skin to hide beneath, it would be _perfect_ for her team.

Jessie threw the poké ball with as much force as she could muster. It smacked into the venonat's forehead with a sound that even made Jessie flinch. She thanked all her lucky stars when the pokémon was captured without an inkling of protest.

She froze when she heard the grass rustle around her.

Picturing all _manner_ of horrors, she dropped into a defensive guard, ready to attack or flee. The poké balls she kept hidden beneath her gloves were ready, primed to be released. Heart pounding, blood rushing in her ears, Jessie held her breath, waiting. The grass grew quiet.

_Too quiet_, she told herself. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for something - _anything_ \- to happen.

Finally the tension in the air seemed to vanish. She let out the breath she had been holding, though still remained on her guard. Nothing seemed to be waiting for her.

Satisfied with the lack of a threat, she turned back to claim her new pokémon -

Only to find that the poké ball had vanished.

"Oh you have got to be _fucking_ with me," she growled, stomping over to the dessicated remains of venomoth skin. The poké ball had straight up _vanished_, _stolen_ from beneath her nose.

"Looking for this?"

She glowered into the tree, identifying the voice instantly. "Meowth!" she snarled, finding him easily. Stood on his hind legs, he leaned against the trunk of the tree with one paw, tossing the poké ball carelessly in the air with his free paw. "What are you doing out here?"

"Ain't it obvious? Looking for your angry face. Here, catch," he said, tossing the poké ball at her.

Heart leaping into her throat, Jessie jumped after the ball, cradling it between her hands as she caught it. She turned her head, scowling at the pokémon that taunted her. "Just what are you playing at, _cat_?"

"Wanted your attention is all," Meowth said, shrugging. He leaped from the tree, somersaulting in the air. He landed in front of her on all fours, holding his head up arrogantly as he began to circle her. "You've been distracted since we got here, Jess. Me and Jimbo aren't idiots, even if you think we are. You're thinking about something - something you don't want us to know about."

"My business is my business, Meowth," she growled, still clutching the poké ball to her chest.

Meowth continued to circle her, very much like a persian taunting trapped prey. "See you say that, but you know that ain't the truth. Me, you, Jimbo, we're a _team_. The three musketeers. I know we ain't exactly the best of pals yet but hey, keeping secrets ain't gonna help that."

"Meowth." Jessie sighed and lowered her arms, letting them hang by her sides. "I'm not involving you both because I don't want you to get hurt."

"Now that's _bullshit_ and you know it," Meowth spat, falling still. Though he only stood up to her knee, Jessie felt like he towered over her. "You don't trust us, Jess. After all that we've been through, you still think we're out to get you - to screw you over the first chance we get."

"Why wouldn't you? Everyone else has so far!"

"Look, Jess," Meowth said, sighing, "we all got our baggage we gotta deal with. Friends don't help you forget about it - we help you carry the load, make it lighter and easier to deal with." He licked his paw and rubbed it over the coin-like horn in the centre of his forehead. "I thought this was all obvious by now, but I guess you're oblivious as well as stubborn."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jessie growled, scrunching her hands into fists.

"Think about it, Jess," Meowth said. "Who saved me that day, back in Unova."

Jessie closed her eyes, able to picture the day he referred to without any effort whatsoever. "It was Team-"

"No Jessie," he said, interrupting her. "I'm not stupid. I'll ask again; _who saved me_?"

"James and I rescued you from that lab but-"

"_Exactly_," Meowth said, stepping towards her. "You and Jimbo, I know it was early days in you both knowing each other - _truly_ knowing each other. I know you've said you met before you joined Team Rocket, but you'd never really worked together before, not in this way. Jess, it was you and him that rescued me that day, not Team Rocket. _Plasma_-" He said the word as if it were the worst of all curses, like the word itself left a horrible taste on his tongue, "-were the ones who put me there. I got no illusions about the reality of Team Rocket, Jess. If it weren't for you and Jimbo campaigning on my behalf, they'd have been happy to take me apart somewhere, to find out how I walk and talk.

"You guys fought for me, you stuck your necks on the line for this battered, unloved, mistreated stray." There were tears in his eyes as he jumped up, clinging to her side. His head nestled against her arm, he continued, voice muffled, "I joined Team Rocket because I had nowhere else to go, but I wanted to be with the two of you. Whatever you're doing, whatever you and Jimbo want to do, I'm by your side. I've got your back Jess, always."

"Meowth," she whispered, touched.

"Don't _Meowth_ me," he retorted. "You wanna make me feel better? Trust me. I like being part of Team Rocket - they don't treat me as a freak, but they don't treat me as an equal. You and Jimbo? You treat me as a _partner._ If you both wanna leave Team Rocket, I'll be with you. You wanna reach the top? I'll be there with you. I'd rather spend a lifetime struggling with you and Jimbo by my side, rather than spending a moment in luxury without you."

Jessie sniffed, blinking away the tears in her eyes. "Stupid cat," she muttered, hugging him. "I can't believe you've made me cry. _Here_ of all places," she said, laughing. "You chose _here_ for such a speech? We could have died at any point during it!"

"Hey, sometimes you can't pick the moment, the moment picks you."

"Stupid cat," Jessie whispered, laughing. She began to walk back to the pokémon centre, carrying him in her arms. She glanced skyward, suddenly afraid, words dying on her lips. She wondered sometimes how she could manage violence so easily, yet words came after such a struggle. Was she just that broken?

"My mother was part of Team Rocket," she said.

"I heard," Meowth said. Even after their time together, his accent still brought a smile to her face. _I hoid_. It was a strange, constant reminder of his life. "It was one of the things they told me when I was joining you both. Miyamoto, right? I'm sorry about her, Jess."

"Don't be," Jessie said, more harshly than she intended. Flinching at her own tone, she continued to move gently through the grass, cradling Meowth still. It was nice to have a warm body there, held close to her in an benignly intimate way. "My mother… well I never knew anything about her life with Team Rocket when I was a child, if I'm honest. I went from foster home to foster home, always moving, never wanted. When I was old enough to be on my own I was kicked out, left to fend for myself. Along the way, I heard whispers of Team Rocket. I did some digging and eventually, in an abandoned mansion in Cinnabar, I found the proof I never realised I had been looking for.

"It was a journal, a diary really, that was over a decade old, even then. It mentioned travelling in Amazonian rainforests, on the hunt for an elusive pokémon that was thought to only be a myth. The diary left me curious, though the handwriting made my heart stop. Though I hadn't seen it in over ten years, I _knew_ that was my mother's handwriting."

"That must have been before the mission in the Andes," Meowth whispered.

Jessie nodded. "The dates matched; it was written just before she vanished." She laughed suddenly. "Even then, I didn't accept that as enough of an answer. I wanted _more_. I joined Team Rocket for answers, mostly. It took _years_ of digging, but I finally found a little more information. My mother didn't die, unlike what everyone told me. She was sighted here, eight years ago."

"You're sure?" Meowth asked.

"It's what the report said," Jessie confirmed, nodding. Seeing the pokémon centre's familiar red roof, she slowed her pace slightly. "I've been wondering for so long just how I could get up here. And recently I acquired new information that makes me think she's still here."

"And now you're here, you think she might be part of this operation we're sent to investigate?"

"Maybe," Jessie said. "Though honestly, I don't know what to think. I don't know how I'm supposed to find anything here, or even where to begin looking. It's less of a needle in a haystack and more of a pebble in a _tyranitar's_ _nest_."

"Hey," Meowth said, placing his paws on her chin, "don't frown. I said it before Jess: we're a team. If you need help looking, you don't need to ask." He smiled at her. "Friends never need to ask each other for help, right?"

"I liked you better when you were a sarcastic asshole," she said, smiling.

"Hey, just because I'm a pokémon doesn't mean I can't have depths to my personality!" He jumped from her arms, landing perfectly on two legs. Spinning to look back at her, he flashed her a thumbs up. "We got ya back Jess, don't you ever think otherwise."

"Thank you," she said, meaning it. As he began to walk back to the pokémon centre she started after him, calling his name. "If you said all of this because you think you'll die in there, I'm letting you know now that I'll never forgive you. I want you to promise me right here, right now. You're going to survive - we all are."

"Course, Jess," he said, grinning at her. "Besides, if I did die, I'd just come back as a gastly or something. Then you'd never be rid of me."

Laughing to himself, he skipped the rest of the way back to the pokémon centre. Jessie smiled to herself as she followed after him, waving to James when she saw him stood outside the pokémon centre.

_Friendship always ends in betrayal_.

It was the first thing cadets were taught when they began training with Team Rocket. As a whole, they seemed to discourage any relationships other than professional ones. Your colleagues being arrested and imprisoned was a common occurrence, if not a guarantee. Easier to discourage relationships rather than dealing with the aftermath of them being destroyed to avoid a prison sentence. For the longest time, Jessie had held those words close, believing them to be true.

Cassidy had proved it to be true, in the most callous way possible.

Jessie was slow to trust, and even slower to acknowledge that other people could be anything other than selfish. With James and Meowth by her side, however, she was starting to think that some people were worth the risk.


	13. Lithification - III

Ash was nervous.

As he sat in the waiting room, watching the clock count down until the time of his scheduled battle, he felt the palms of his hands grow sweatier and clammier. His bounced his leg up and down, biting down on his bottom lip as he tried to occupy his body with _something_.

The walls were grey, boring. A digital clock with bright red, neon numbers haunted him with its slow progression of time. The other chairs were empty, their occupants already having left for their own battles. Ash glanced around, finding nothing other than a television with a blank screen and a small table filled with ancient magazines that could serve as a distraction.

Pikachu muttered quietly as he pulled down on Ash's sleeve. Ash grunted as he looked down at him, surprised to see just how nervous his pokémon also seemed.

"It's okay buddy," Ash said, placing his hand between Pikachu's ears, letting his fingers scratch at the familiar spots. "You'll be my ace in the hole. Otherwise I think we can leave this to Butterfree and Apollo."

The television suddenly hummed as it flickered into life, scaring Ash. He shouted as he fell out of his seat, his fingers tingling with static electricity. He watched as his name appeared on the screen, calling him to the battlefield. The wall opposite him, devoid of anything other than a grim shade of grey paint, began to _groan_.

He had seen it three times already, with each of the challengers that had left before him. This time, it felt different. His heart was racing, his mouth was bone-dry. The wall moved as if pulled in two different directions by unseen hands, revealing a corridor hidden behind it. Ash pushed himself to his feet and took slow, unsteady steps towards it.

The lights flicked on, one by one, bathing him in their harsh, clinical glow.

Ash took a deep breath and stole a look at Pikachu. "Well, this is where it begins buddy." Grinning as his pokémon jumped onto his shoulder, Ash adjusted the brim of his hat and raced towards the battlefield.

The battlefield appeared faster than he expected. Ash shielded his eyes as he raced onto it, able to feel the difference in the air. It felt like there was a thin layer of dust covering everything, even the air he was breathing. As he looked around, he could see a rocky field with a small grey podium at either side. Across the field from him, the gym leader was already stood in his podium.

His mouth wide, Ash let his eyes roam. There was a large screen hanging from the ceiling, with Brock's name and two poké balls beneath it. At the bottom was _Challenger_, in large, green text. He saw the stands were almost empty, save for a small gathering of local trainers and fanatics, and what appeared to be a family of almost identical, small children.

Grinning as he saw a familiar shade of orange hair, Ash took a step towards the battlefield.

"Greetings!" boomed a voice. Ash cried out in alarm, nearly jumping out of his skin. A face appeared on the screen; young, with spiky brown hair and dark skin. "My name is Brock. Welcome to my gym, challenger! Take your place on the podium before you!"

At his words, the challenger's podium began to slowly rise up from the ground, displaying a set of stairs he could climb up. With a smile, Ash raced towards them, jumping atop the podium as it continued to rise. He felt his breath catch in his throat as it continued to rise until he was certain he was higher up than the roof of his house. There was a flicker of light, almost in the air, like a giant bubble that he could only see at the right angle.

"There's a safety field being generated to protect both podiums," Brock explained, as if reading Ash's mind. Ash gasped and withdrew his hand, staring in awe. "As this is your first gym battle, allow me to explain some basics.

"I will use two pokémon. You're allowed to use as many substitutions and pokémon as you like. Attacking the opposing trainer's podium or the crowd stands is an automatic forfeit. Pokémon are unable to battle at the point of unconsciousness or at the decision of the match official. The use of lethal force is strictly prohibited and will result in your trainer's licence being revoked."

Ash swallowed, his mind racing. That was a lot of things to consider, to keep track of. _Two pokémon to defeat_. He tried to focus on that train of thought instead.

"If these terms are acceptable, confirm it on your terminal now."

Ash blinked and noticed for the first time that there was a computer screen staring out at him, built into the metal ledge of the podium. There were two large flashing icons, a simple 'Accept' and 'Reject'.

There was no need to think about what he wanted to do. Ash took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of rocks and dirt, and pressed the accept button.

"Good to hear," Brock's voice echoed. "With that said, I call this gym battle to start! Prepare for my first pokémon, Geodude!"

Metal shutters echoed behind Ash. He glanced behind him and saw that the stairs had been blocked off. Back in the battlefield, he watched as the energy of Brock's poké ball faded, revealing what appeared to be a round rock with two skinny arms and large hands. The pokémon grunted and pushed itself off the ground, where it, despite all logic Ash could think of, _floated_.

"Challenger!" Brock called. "Bring forth your first pokémon!"

Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulders to sit on the ledge in front of him. Grinning, Ash met his pokémon's eyes and nodded. "Let's show them, Pikachu. We'll prove them all wrong." He snatched the poké ball from his belt and turned his cap backwards as he cried, "Butterfree, I choose you!"

His pokémon appeared in a shower of sparkling light. Delicate wings beating, Ash watched his pokémon slowly begin to adjust to the scenario. He had explained what was happening to all of them, but experiencing it would be something else entirely.

_This was it._

His heart began to beat even faster. He was certain it was racing as quickly as Pikachu's. _This_ was the beginning of his League career, the next steps in his career as a Master.

"A butterfree?" Brock sounded almost disappointed.

Ash felt a surge of pride, of anger. He _would_ prove them all wrong.

"Very well," Brock said. "Geodude, let's start this off with a tackle!"

"You heard him!" Ash cried. "Tackle it right back!"

HIs pokémon cried out as he dove to earth, his body almost seeming to become a missile. Ash felt his breath catch in his throat. The pokémon raced towards each other, determination obvious. They impacted with a blow that Ash swore made his teeth rattle. The geodude floated back to earth, almost undamaged. Butterfree wobbled as he fluttered back into the air.

"Tackling my geodude won't do you any good," Brock lectured. "Almost all rock pokémon have top-notch defences. Your butterfree's tackles won't help you win. Now geodude, tackle it again!"

"Keep out of its range!" Ash cried. "Get to a safe spot and harden!"

His butterfree responded immediately. The geodude, still defying the laws of gravity, raced after his pokémon. It moved far faster than Ash thought was possible. Grunting as it launched itself in the air, Butterfree only just managed to flutter out of the way. As geodude reached the peak of its ascent and missed, its eyes widened and its hands snatched for _something_ in the air to hold onto.

Butterfree made a sound like laughter as a soft white sheen overtook its body. As its wings stopped beating, it began to drop straight down to earth. Ash cried out, his heart in his throat. Butterfree recovered with grace, spinning back into the air as if it had been doing it all its life.

The geodude hit the ground with enough of an impact to kick up dust and rocks. Ash flinched as tiny pebbles rained down around him. Surprised when none hit him, he looked up to see them bouncing off an invisible shield above him. He blinked, still awed by the protection, and took another dust-filled breath.

"Could have blocked that from coming through," he muttered. The dust settled in his nose, causing a discomfort that he failed to shift, no matter how much he tried to blow his nose.

"Enough of this!" Brock hissed. "Geodude, knock it out of the sky!"

The geodude growled as it slammed its meaty fists into the ground. Small rocks erupted out of the dirt. The geodude snatched them from the air and began to throw tiny javellins.

"Dodge and keep hardening!" Ash cried.

His butterfree fluttered around the rock spikes, twisting and turning in the air. Ash felt his jaw drop open as Butterfree soared around them, dancing circles around the projectiles. He watched as the soft white glow continued to surround his pokémon.

Then suddenly, one struck true.

Butterfree cried out as the rock smacked against its back, knocking it from the sky. Ash gasped in horror. That rock was sharp - he knew how fragile his pokémon's wings were.

"Butterfree!" Ash screamed.

His pokémon _growled_, a sound he would not have thought possible would come from such a pokémon. It twirled in the air, beating its wings backwards. Ash heard Brock call out for his geodude to keep attacking. Instead of listening to him, Ash tuned him out.

"Keep it up Butterfree!" Ash shouted. He watched as his pokémon continued to weave around the javelins until finally the white glow seemed to flicker, as if unable to keep hold. "Great job! Now, head to the ceiling and create a gust!"

Butterfree trilled as he soared up to the sky, wings beating. Despite how small and fragile they were, Ash felt the blades of wind, even beneath his protective field. His hat danced on his head, buffeted by the winds. His jacket, caught in the winds, trailed behind him like a cape.

"A slight breeze isn't going to do anything to us!" Brock's voice taunted. "Geodude, blast it!"

Shielding his eyes from the gales, Ash squinted at the geodude. It growled as it slammed its fists into the ground again, though this time spikes of rocks emerged, still stuck to the ground. With a snarl, the pokémon snapped them like twigs and drew its arms back to throw them.

"Dodge!" Ash cried, hoping it was enough. Butterfree stopped the winds and soared around the spears of solid rock, twirling in the air. "Now keep up the winds!" The rocks slammed into the ceiling with continual _thuds_ as Butterfree danced around them.

The moment the geodude lulled, Ash took the chance.

"Now Butterfree, use the winds! Poison powder!"

He felt smug at Brock's cry of alarm. Purple powder began to leak from Butterfree's wings like water from a river. The howling winds of Butterfree's gusts swept up the powder, creating a vortex of toxins that was impossible to avoid. Swept under the ominous winds, the geodude cried out, unable to avoid them.

Ash let out a relieved sigh as the winds slammed harmlessly against the shield above him, keeping his air safe. Whatever technology was keeping him safe was apparently smart enough to know what to let back in.

"I'll admit Ash, that was smart," Brock said. "But it won't matter. Geodude, time to take flatten this bug! Take it down!"

"Tackle it right back!"

Snarling, the geodude pressed its hands against the ground and threw itself into the sky like a rocket. Butterfree, singing a song that could have been a war cry, dove to meet it. The air around them both seemed to split, almost forming arrows around them.

They slammed into each other with enough force to make the hair on the back of Ash's neck rise. Faster than his eyes could see, the pokémon were thrown from each other, hurtling into the ground on opposite ends of the battlefield. Ash felt the ground tremble as they landed on it, watched the dust clouds emerge and swallow the battlefield.

He tried to swallow, but his tongue felt too big for his mouth. His heart was still racing, his hands were shaking even as he pressed them down against the podium. Slowly, the swirling dusts began to dissipate. The poisonous vorex died out. Ash felt his spirits soar as Butterfree's voice carried.

With slow, almost pained movements, his butterfree rose from the ground, its wings heavy and barely able to keep it aloft.

"Well done," Brock said. He pointed a poké ball at the field and Ash watched as his geodude vanished in a flash of red light. "I would not have expected that. Hardening your butterfree to make it more resistant to my attacks and strengthening its own wasn't something I would have considered you to have done."

Ash chuckled, trying to ignore the way the tips of his ears were burning. He was certain he could hear Misty's voice screaming from the stands, cheering him on. "Thanks. I'm glad it worked. I honestly wasn't sure it would pay off so well." He grabbed Butterfree's ball from his belt and pointed it towards the field. "I'm proud of you, Butterfree," he said, activating the recall, "but you're too tired to fight the next battle."

"Halfway there," Brock called to him, "though I should warn you - my next pokémon won't go down easily. Onix!" he cried, throwing forth the poké ball.

Ash felt his jaw hit the floor as the pokémon emerged. He understood why their podiums were raised as high as they were - Brock's pokémon was _enormous_. Even as high as they were, Brock's pokémon was still taller. It looked almost like a snake, though its body seemed to be formed of large boulders locked together. It took a deep breath and _roared_. The force of it blew Ash's hat off his head and onto the podium floor.

Its breath smelt stale, almost reminding Ash of the strange smell of caves. His mind went to a hundred different scenarios at once. _All_ of his pokémon were _tiny_ in comparison - there was no way that onix could _not_ flatten them. He thought of calling out Sun, letting the mankey deal with this pokémon directly. It would be the best choice, the smartest course of action.

"That's not what I'm here to do," Ash told himself. "Anyone can win with type advantages." He pulled Apollo's poké ball off his belt and stared at it, marvelling at the way the lights made the red metal seem to shine. "I promised you guys that I'd show everyone what you can do. Apollo, let's do this!"

His hoothoot appeared in a shower of sparkles. Ash's heartbeat began to increase once more. Seeing the tiny shape of his hoothoot next to the monster of Brock's pokémon made it seem like an impossible challenge. He was fairly certain that Apollo was only the size of one of the monster's _teeth._

"I won't be taking it so easy this time," Brock promised. "Now Onix! Slam that hoothoot out of the sky!"

The onix _moved_. Ash felt his stomach drop at the speed of it. It was all he could do to scream, "Dodge it!" before the giant snake was towering above his pokémon, bringing its stone tail down to earth. Apollo, in a flutter of feathers, barely managed to dodge in time. The ground shook as onix's tail slammed down against it. Ash stumbled in his podium, having to grip the railings to stop himself from falling over. Pikachu growled, sparks flying as he too nearly fell.

"Apollo, keep your distance! Try a silver wind!"

Apollo took to the air, flying high above the onix. Tiny wings beating, Ash watched the currents stir beneath his pokémon's body. Small, glittered scales danced in the wind, slicing into the onix's body. Ash felt a grin come to his face as small pieces of rock began to crumble from the behemoth's body. "Alright Apollo! Keep it up!"

The technique was still new, something they had yet to refine fully. Ash watched his pokémon, eager to see any signs of it improving her abilities. He glanced at Brock, silently questioning why the gym leader was doing nothing in the face of his pokémon literally beginning to _crumble_ before his very eyes.

"Thanks for that," Brock said, a smile in his voice. "I'm sure you've noticed that there's little pieces of rock falling off my pokémon. One of the inherent abilities of an onix is that each time they take damage, they shed parts of their body to move faster."

_What._

Ash's blood ran cold. The onix, eyes narrowed, glared up at Apollo. At Brock's command it hardened, coiling in on itself. Ash's mind raced. He had to think quickly, if what Brock said was true. "Apollo! Tackle it quickly!"

Apollo dove from the sky. The onix met the challenge with a roar that made the _walls_ tremble. Its mouth was larger than Apollo - Ash was certain it was larger than his _house_. Apollo dove in, battling the winds of the onix's roar. It twisted and spun around the pokémon's gaping maw and threw itself against the pokémon's stoney head.

Ash watched, crestfallen as his pokémon _bounced_ off the onix's head like a balloon off a flat surface.

"I _did_ warn you, Ash," Brock's voice taunted. "Now Onix! Tackle it back!"

Ash tried to scream out his warning. He had barely opened his mouth before the onix _sprung_ at his pokémon with a speed far greater than he would have thought possible. He imagined it like a larger version of Professor Oak's red convertible, soaring through the sky.

Apollo never had the time to dodge. One moment she was beating her wings, trying to recover from knocking against the pokémon's rock hard skull. The next the onix had thrown itself into the air like a javelin. It slammed its crested head against her tiny body, knocking her into the protective dome above Ash's podium.

Ash winced at the sound she made as she crashed into the protection shield. He looked up to see her body pressed against the invisible wall, her tiny chest rising and falling in laboured breaths. With a heavy heart he pulled out her poké ball and activated the recall function.

"A wise choice," Brock said. "Your hoothoot wouldn't have been able to take much more."

Ash looked at her ball, his mind a storm of emotions. He had wanted to prove Misty wrong. He had wanted to show her, to show _everyone_ that he could do this without natural advantages. He looked at Pikachu and felt his mouth twist in a grimace. They could battle together, like they had promised to do so, but would it be the same?

Pikachu grunted at him, snatching a tiny pawful of Ash's jacket as he did so. Pikachu growled at him, eyes alight with determination. Ash could feel his pokémon's desire to get out there and battle, the _need_ to prove his abilities, the _want_ to prove everyone wrong.

"You're right," Ash said, feeling foolish for ever doubting himself. "Misty mentioned that most Kantonese rock pokémon are grounded. This one is no different. Your electricity won't do anything, which just means beating them will be all the more shocking!"

Arm raised in the air, Ash took a moment to let his words sink in. When they did he began to chuckle, unable to find the ability to focus. "Get it, Pikachu? Shocking? You're an electric pokémon."

He heard Brock sigh over the intercom. Pikachu made a displeased face at him. Ash was certain he could hear Misty groaning in disgust, all the way from her position in the stands.

"Anyway, Pikachu, it's down to you!"

Pikachu sprung from the podium with a battle cry, landing with a small _puff_ of dust in the battlefield. Ash was certain he could feel Brock's curiosity.

"I hope you've got another pokémon after this one, because your pikachu isn't going to have much luck against my onix," Brock warned. "Onix, take it out! Slam!"

"Use a quick attack to dodge!"

Ash could feel his heart in his throat. The onix was fast, there was no doubting that. But his pikachu was a pokémon designed for speed. He became a blur of yellow on the battlefield. The onix moved sluggishly in comparison, bringing its tail down as if the air was made of tar. Pikachu raced around it, taunting it between his breaths. The onix _roared_, blasting Pikachu back.

As he bounced backwards, falling over rocks, the onix sped in for the finishing blow. At Ash's cry Pikachu jumped back to his feet and raced towards the onix, inside its range of attacks. As the monster bellowed, Pikachu jumped atop its back and raced up its spine.

"Now Pikachu!" cried Ash. "Let's stop its speed! Electro web!"

Pikachu jumped into the sky, chanting loudly. Sparks danced around its body. White-hot lances of lightning thundered against the ground. Pikachu spun and produced a bolt of pure white electricity that split into the shape of a spider's web. It landed over the onix's tail, discharging harmlessly against the monster's grounded body.

"That's not going to get you far," Brock said as Pikachu landed some distance away. "My onix isn't affected by electricity."

"I know," Ash said, grinning, "but that's not what I'm doing. Pikachu, aim another at the middle of his body this time!"

Pikachu raced towards the giant, sparking with electricity again. Onix, encouraged on by his own trainer, remained in place, his stony body almost seeming to glow as it continued to harden its skin. Another web of electricity formed over its midsection, discharging wildly. Lances of electricity met and suddenly, the two webs _exploded_.

The onix _roared_ in pain. Brock cried out after it. The electrical webs expanded in size, darkening to a brilliant blue. The light that came off them made Ash throw an arm over his eyes. The heat was beginning to filter through the protective dome, making beads of sweat run down Ash's face, behind his ears, down his back.

"Alright Pikachu! He cheered, ignoring the distractions. "Now, form a signal beam!"

Pikachu growled as light began to coalesce around him. The rainbow of colours danced, almost seeming to form electrical sparks of their own.

"Onix, tackle it before it can finish!" At his pokémon's struggling grunts, Brock's tone turned to one of confusion. "Onix?"

Ash laughed. "That's right, Brock!" He pointed to the electrical webbing trapping the pokémon in place. "I know your pokémon is immune to electricity, but those webs are also made using bug energy! They're ultra sticky and right now, they're leaving your pokémon right in place for us to attack. Now Pikachu, rush in with a quick attack and use that to fire!"

Ash could smell the ozone beginning to burn. His pikachu, snarling a war cry, moved with a speed that made him seem to turn invisible. The signal beam left a rainbow trail of light behind him. He raced towards the onix, a bullet of light and electricity. At point-blank range he jumped into the air and as the onix opened its mouth to warn him away, Pikachu _fired._

The beam of light rocketed into the back of the onix's mouth. Its angry roars became distressed sounds of pain. It thrashed against the electrical bindings holding it in place. The technique was still new, unperfected. Combined with the rage of the monster, there was not enough force to stop it from breaking free of its trappings. It spun on the spot, coiling in on itself, baring its fangs. Though its eyes were narrowed, its body was shaking. Small rocks were raining down from its body, creating a hailstorm of pebbles and stone shards. Pikachu jumped backwards, staring up at it, letting their eyes meet.

"This is it buddy!" Ash cried. "It's going down with one last quick attack!"

"Onix, meet it head on with a tackle!"

Pikachu moved like a bullet fired from a gun. The onix, despite previously being trapped, hurtled across the ground like it had been fired from a cannon. The pokémon raced towards each other, bathed in the power of their attacks. Ash tasted blood from where he was biting his bottom lip so hard. He could see Brock leaning forwards, his knuckles white against his own podium's railings.

Dust flew in every direction from the pokémons' charges. They met in the middle of the dust storm. Ash watched, his eyes wide. The onix reared up, body tense. It threw its body down with the full force of its weight behind it. Pikachu waited until the last moment, his body almost vanishing under the shadow of the behemoth.

Then at the last moment, a blur of yellow darted out from beneath the onix. The rock snake _slammed_ against the ground. Light fixtures in the ceiling groaned and shook. Spectators screamed as they fell off their seats.

Snarling a way cry, Pikachu turned on his heel and _rocketed_ into the side of the onix. His body slammed into the side of its head, making a sound like that of a building collapsing. The onix screamed, thrashing. Pikachu cried out as he was thrown backwards.

The dust clouds reached towards the heavens. Slowly, they began to disperse. Ash saw his Pikachu, sat on his backside, panting heavily. Before him was the impossibly large onix, flat against the ground, eyes closed, breathing laboured.

Ash saw the stadium screen erupt into a symphony of colour. It pronounced Brock's onix unable to battle. He stared at it, his eyes almost unseeing. It was like a mental block in his brain, not letting him believe it was true until he saw the onix vanish in the familiar glow of a poké ball's recall function.

"We did it?" Ash whispered, not noticing as his podium began to descend back down to the battlefield. It was only when Pikachu raced towards him, crying out joyously, that all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"We won!" Ash screamed. Pikachu jumped into his arms, shouting his celebrations. Ash laughed as he spun on the spot, cradling Pikachu close. "We did it!" he exclaimed, voice breaking. "We really did it Pikachu! We got a gym badge!"

He stopped spinning at the sound of clapping. He looked up at Brock, meeting him in person for the first time. He was taller than Ash had thought, his skin and orange shirt all covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Well done, Ash," Brock said, holding out a hand. "You've officially beaten the Pewter City Gym."

**-0-0-0-**

Jessie shivered and forced herself to refrain from rubbing her arms to keep them warm. She had always thought that a network of tunnels would be warm - from what little thoughts she had spared towards such a thing.

Even by the lights their flashlights gave off, however, she never saw her breath fog in the air. She filed it as the latest bullet point under her mental tally of '_Reasons I should get the fuck out of here whilst I'm still breathing.' _Meowth's amber eyes caught the light every so often, and each time Jessie felt her gut twist in uncertainty. She was _terrified, _loathe as she was to admit it. James had been the one to suggest that they keep their pokémon tucked safely away in their poké balls, to reduce the chances of them getting injured unnecessarily. Though she understood the logic in it, Jessie would have felt incredibly safer were her arbok coiled around her.

Beneath her gloves, the stone walls felt damp, cold. The ground beneath them was angled and the roof above them was far shorter than she would have preferred. They moved at a slant, almost crouching as they made their way at a painfully slowly crawl.

"This is beyond stupid," she heard James whispering. Inwardly, she agreed. "What sort of thing could they possibly be planning in here? It's not even like this would be a decent entrance!" He shrieked as he tripped over a rock. The sound made Jessie's blood turn to ice. She spun around, a poké ball already in her hand and her heart racing beneath her breast. When he smiled at her, his teeth impossibly white in the light of their torches, she breathed a quick, quiet sigh of relief.

"These are onix tracks," Meowth whispered, his voice so low that Jessie barely heard him.

_Great_, she thought to herself, _more monsters to contend with._

"Wait!" Meowth hissed suddenly. Jessie froze instantly, holding her foot in mid-air. Meowth prowled around her on all fours - she could see the fur on his back raising, the arch in his spine as _something_ came closer. She had no clue what it was. She could not even be certain there _was_ anything. There were no footsteps. No sounds. No smells.

The only thing she felt was a bone-chilling urge to _run_.

Meowth _growled._ Not a human-like sound that they had grown used to, but a guttural, instinctive sound that set Jessie's nerves on edge. James whimpered behind her. She felt his hand close around her arm. She wanted to hold him, to embrace _someone_ in the face of whatever waited for them.

She saw movements in the shadows. The tunnel in front of them flickered and _stretched_, impossibly wide. She heard cackling, echoing in the distance and somehow in front of her too.

She pictured a mr mime crawling through the darkness, upside down and with an impossibly wide smile.

_You'll float too. You'll float too!_

She forced the thought out of her mind. _That was a movie_, she told herself, _a movie based on a fictional book that is completely, one hundred percent -_

A demonic cackle, somewhere in the darkness. A hissing sound, like a snake's tongue kissing her ear.

The warm breath of another on the back of her neck.

_Her back was to the wall_.

"Get the _fuck_ away from me!" she screamed, throwing herself from the wall. She _saw_ a face in it, bubbling beneath the stone. James saw it too, shrieked and dove with her. Meowth hissed, placing himself between them. She saw his paws leaking ominous black energy. She feared it would not be enough.

_Come play with me_.

She _felt_ the words, rather than heard them. They felt like they came from her very _soul_. She felt impossibly, irreparably _unclean._ She backed up to the other side of the cavern, pressing her back against the cold, wet, rock wall. James' hand found hers. She could feel his thundering heartbeat through his gloves.

"Show yourself!" she barked to the darkness, faking bravado.

_Come on Jessie, just a little further._

She swallowed the lump in her throat. _No way in hell, fuck that sideways. _She pulled a poké ball free of her belt and covering her eyes, released the creature inside. The familiar blue skin of her wobbuffet calmed her, if only a fraction. He placed a limp hand to his forehead, whilst the eyes on his tail swivelled in either direction. She took his other hand in hers, squeezing it tightly.

He grunted, frighteningly serious.

"It's a pokémon," Meowth whispered, pressing himself close to her leg. "It's gotta be. There's nothing else it could be. Logically-"

_Just a little further Jessie. We'll have fun._

"_Fuck_ your logic!" Jessie screamed. She felt the ground beneath them rumble. Her panicked mind ignored the possibility of onix. It had to be something worse - something supernatural. It was a ghost, here to take their souls. An angry spirit, here to bring them down to hell with it.

Her departed mother, angry that she took so long to find her.

"I'm _not_ scared of you!" Jessie shrieked at the darkness.

"I am," James whispered.

"Meowth too."

Her wobbuffet muttered his agreement.

"The three of you are hopeless!" she declared, shaking herself free of them. Snatching the machete from her belt, she brandished it at the darkness. "_Whatever _you are, you come out here and face me! No more cowardly guerilla warfare!"

She watched the shadows contort before her. One by one, they formed large, pointed objects. It took three of them forming on the wall opposite her to realise what they were.

Fangs. Very sharp, very _large_ fangs.

The mouth was larger than she was. It was comprised entirely of shadows that bleed impossibly into one another. Staring at it made her eyes go funny, the world lose focus. Her arm lost the ability to hold up her weapon. She felt the hairs on her arms stand on end.

_You'll float too, Jessie._

"Nope!" she screamed. Jessie turned and she _ran_. The rock floor was no longer an obstacle for her. Grabbing wobbuffet's hand as she raced past him, she dragged the pokémon along behind her, screaming as she ran.

She heard footsteps beside her. She told herself it was James, keeping up with her. She saw Meowth's shadow on the ground beside her. More than once she felt wobbuffet stumble. She heard him cry out as he tripped. She did _not_ care. He was _not_ dying to whatever that was, and neither was she!

In the back of her mind, she knew that she was racing further into the caverns. She did not care, so long as it was away from the demonic thing stalking them. She was certain she could still feel it breathing down her neck. The errant breeze, impossible to occur so far beneath the earth's surface, followed after them, carrying whispered promises of certain doom.

Ahead, their torches reflected light. Jessie nearly squealed with joy. They raced towards it, uncaring about the source. Light meant salvation. Light meant life. Light meant-

Light meant a colony of large, mole-like pokémon, gathered around a forgotten adventurer's flashlight.

"Oh _shit_," Jessie whispered, flailing to a halt. She felt James smack into her from behind and barely kept her balance. Meowth skidded to a stop by her feet. Wobbuffet breathed a sigh of relief as she let go of his hand, only for it to turn into a horrified gasp when he saw what waited for them.

"They're excadrill," James whispered. Personally, Jessie did _not_ care what they were. The cavern tunnels had opened up into a chamber of sorts. Stalagmites and stalactites met in the middle of the open expanse, creating the illusion of hungry teeth waiting for them. Lake water reflected off their flashlights. She could hear the echo of dripping water, and only then became aware of how full her bladder was.

"They're blind," Meowth whispered. "We'll be fine, so long as we don't-"

_You'll float too._

Jessie screamed.

The excadrill turned as one, their steel-like claws glowing in the gloomy light.

"-make any sounds," Meowth finished, downcast. "It trapped us!" he declared, as the excadrill _growled._ "That thing led us here!"

The excadrill moved to attack. Jessie counted four of them. Three remained back, their claws outstretched. She saw smaller pokémon between them, sheltered. _Protecting the young_, she realised.

The four attacking dove into the ground, swimming through it like water.

"Scatter!" Meowth screamed.

Jessie did just that. She raced into the cavern, as far away from the young as she could manage. Going near them would only piss the pokémon off more. She felt the ground rumble beneath her enough as it was. Her wobbuffet shrieked from somewhere behind her, in surprise, not pain. She grit her teeth and continued to run. Though he looked frail, she knew nothing would hurt that blue blob. She had seen him shake off attacks that would have killed other pokémon. She tried to look for James, for Meowth. The lighting was too dark, too restricted for her to see.

She felt the ground rumble near her. Turning on her heel, she raced in a diagonal, swearing. Putting what she thought was enough distance between them, she spun on her heel, snarling as she threw a poké ball into the darkness. "You want a fight? I'll show you the real wrath of the land! Ares, Whack-A-Fucking-Mole!"

Her pokémon appeared in a flash of light that destroyed her night vision. Her pokémon _roared_ as he appeared, the sound echoing in her ears. Thick, tough, muscled arms swept her from her feet. She heard the ground rumble nearby. Something _hissed_ as it exploded out of the dirt. She felt the rain of pebbles and mud as it peppered her.

Her pokémon bellowed its challenge and stomped the ground. She felt the rumbles that it produced. The excadrill closest shrieked and tried to leap free of the ground. The moment it showed its head, her pokémon _roared_ and struck, bringing a fist down with such force that her teeth began to vibrate.

She felt his skin tighten, his chest begin to heat up. She buried her head beneath her hands just in time. The heat of the fire he breathed felt like it was boiling the air around her. Even her eyeballs felt like they were drying out. Looking up, squinting against the darkness, she saw her nidoking keeping two of the excadrill at bay, terrorising them with flames.

She saw James in the far distance, his victreebel by his side. The pokémon was a frenzy of razor-sharp leaves and deadly whipping vines, keeping another two of the territorial pokémon at bay.

Heart in her throat, she looked for her wobbuffet. She saw him near the group of excadrill that had stayed to defend their young, shielding meowth from their attacks. The cat was poking his head from behind the pokémon, trying to converse, to explain their situation. The excadrill appeared to be having none of it. They snarled as they continued to try and attack, clearly only focused on defending their young.

"Jessie!" she heard James shout. "Meowth! Hold your breath!"

Her eyes widened and instantly she knew what was happening. She sucked in air and tasted a sweet smell that began to overpower the dank, oppressing damp she had grown accustomed to breathing. She tapped Ares on the chest, signalling for him to do the same. She felt his chest expand as he sucked in a breath, then felt every impact against his back as he turned it to the excadrill, shielding Jessie from their wrath.

She counted the horrible, long moments.

_One._

Ares grunted as he buckled under the attacks, falling forwards a step.

_Two._

She heard wobbuffet shout as he threw up a safeguard.

_Three_.

James was shouting something to his victreebel.

_Four_.

Three more impacts against Ares; three more times he stumbled forwards, grunting harsh words; his embrace never being anything other than gentle.

_Five._

She felt the attacks against Ares slow, begin to lose their power. She readied his poké ball, should it get much worse.

_Six._

Everything fell quiet. She continued to hold her breath, unable to trust what was waiting for her when she let it out. It was only when Ares breathed a sigh of relief that she allowed herself to breathe again. The air smelled sickly, like honey and vanilla that had been left to caramelise and burn.

Ares growled a question to her. Jessie, in lieu of giving him an answer, began to laugh as she collapsed against his broad chest.

"Of course I'm fine, darling," she whispered, scratching his chin. "I should be asking you how you are. Are you hurt?" She knew the moment that she looked at his face that he was lying. Scowling, she pushed herself away from him and pointed at the space between them. "Turn around. Now."

Like a sulking child, he hung his head and turned, his tail curled around his body. Jessie barely stopped herself from gasping when she saw the damage. His back, covered in thick, poisonous armour, was a mess. Deep, oozing gashes were opened across his back, his toxic blood flooding like overflowing rivers. She pointed her flashlight into one and felt bile rise in her throat when she realised she was looking at fatty tissue. The harsh yellow was a horrible contrast to the purple of his skin and the red of his blood.

"You poor baby," she whispered, appalled at herself for letting this happen. She wanted to pay the sleeping excadrill back in kind. She saw the two responsible behind her pokémon, sleeping. They were blissfully unaware of the damage they had caused her dear, beloved friend.

Yet she could not find it in herself to attack them. _She_ was responsible - if he had not had to shield her, he could have attacked, could have focused on doing something other than taking hits for her.

"You big, brilliant,; _ignoramus_," she whispered, pressing a hand to his undamaged shoulder. Grabbing his poké ball from her belt, she held it aloft. "You rest now, okay? Mommy will take you to get all these boo-boos healed."

She pressed the ball gently against his shoulder, refusing to wipe her eyes until he had returned to the comfort of his poké ball. Looking up, she saw James moving towards Meowth and her wobbuffet. She sighed as she stepped over the sleeping excadrill to meet the rest of her team, no longer able to summon the energy to care if there was something haunting them in the darkness.

Her wobbuffet broke into a wide smile when he saw her, slapping a hand against his head in greeting. She chuckled, despite the situation, and mimicked the gesture. Despite the attacks she had seen him take, he seemed impossibly unharmed.

"Meowth?" James asked. Jessie heard the waver in his voice and turned quickly to see her other team mate. Though he was clearly trying to feign wellness, she could see the way he was favouring one side. There appeared to be no blood - a glancing blow, perhaps, but meowth as a species were never known for their durability. Whatever meowth had been through in the past certainly made him stronger in comparison to others of his kind, but he was not made of iron.

"I'm fine Jimbo," Meowth said, obviously through gritted teeth. He sucked in a breath and Jessie pretended not to hear it. "I didn't get much from them, but they told me something's down here. They thought we were part of it, 'cos the only other humans they've seen have all been up to no good. Well, other than this one," he added, pointing to the flashlight on the ground.

For the first time, Jessie noticed the body it was attached to. She wondered if she had been just that panicked, to miss something like that, or if she was just immune to such things.

"Well," James said, crouching above the corpse, "he's clearly been here a while."

"_He_?" Jessie echoed. She pointed to the remains - as that was all they were. "_He_ is just bones with some tattered scraps of clothing! How do you even know such things?"

"Hips," James explained emotionlessly, pointing his flashlight to them. "The pubic arch is more of a v shape."

"_You're_ a pubic arch," Meowth muttered, just low enough for Jessie to hear. She laughed into her fist, despite the situation.

"What remains of the skull hints the person was white," James continued, oblivious to Meowth's comments. "And… here we have a further clue!" he exclaimed as he pulled free the tattered remains of a journal from beneath the bones.

"You couldn't have just pulled that out first, Jimbo?" Meowth asked. "I mean the show and tell is all well and good, but I'd rather be out of here before all these _angry pokémon_ wake up."

"Solution to that," Jessie answered. She reached into her backpack and withdrew an entire box of poké balls. Dividing them between the four of them, she pressed one to the closest pokémon - one of the infants. "If we don't do everything they want down here, maybe donating some strong pokémon might get us some extra favour."

"True," James conceded.

They moved away from each other in silence, capturing the sleeping pokémon. When all of them had been caught - and Jessie's eyes still had stars dancing in front of them - the four of them convened by the lakefront, away from the remains of the unfortunate victim. The poké balls she had given to Wobbuffet had to be rescued off him before he dropped them all and released their angry denizens.

"Let's try not to anger these pokémon any more, huh Wobbuffet?" Jessie laughed as he slapped his head in response and waddled around to guard her back. "What's the journal saying?"

"Nothing really that interesting," James whispered as he scanned through it, squinting to see it properly. "Some mentions of working for someone with a name beginning with 'Z', some jibberish and then something about his deepest, darkest fears."

"Sounds like what the excadrill were saying," Meowth said. "They said that something was down here, something that the other humans brought. They didn't know what it was, but they said it fed on fear."

"Oh, _brilliant,_" Jessie whispered. "So that's what we're here to sort out, amongst everything else? This is the thing that's _broken containment_?"

"Hopefully," James answered. "Who even knows? It could be something even worse."

"Let's think about that when the time comes," Jessie muttered. Pulling free her phone, she glanced through the information Arianna had loaded for her. Upon seeing the next set of information, she sighed. "Of course," she growled, running a hand through her hair. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"What's wrong, Jess?" Meowth asked.

"We need to go across that lake," she sighed. "James, I really hope your chimecho's telekinesis is up to scratch, because I do _not_ want to bathe in whatever the hell that is."

**-0-0-0-**

The Boulder Badge shone in Ash's grip.

"This is amazing!" he declared, holding it aloft for even the heavens to see. "This is so awesome!"

"This is embarrassing," Misty muttered. Her chin was buried in one hand, her forehead resting in another. A tray of food remained untouched on the table in front of her.

"You're just jealous," Ash shot back. He dug his fork into the pale, tasteless portion of scrambled eggs and thought twice about taking another mouthful of disappointment. "I proved you wrong," he sung. "Take _that,_ miss 'I know everything because I ran a gym and don't like fun'."

"_Ash_."

There was an obvious threat in her tone. Ash grinned to disguise the way he gulped. Instead of saying anything else, he chose to pin the badge to the inside of his jacket and inhale another forkful of his food. "So where are we going next?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

"_Urgh_, chew first, talk after," Misty chided. "And I haven't thought about that yet. Cerulean… you can guess why I don't want to go there, but I know it doesn't even have a running gym yet. The closest ones we can get to realistically are Vermilion and Cinnabar. Vermilion would mean going through Cerulean anyway, but Cinnabar means heading back towards Pallet and getting a ferry from there."

"I'm happy to go wherever," Ash said. "I'll take on _all_ the gym leaders and prove to them that it's the pokémon themselves that show strength, not something as stupid as just elemental _janken_."

"Ash," Misty sighed. "You may have beaten Brock, sure. But three of your pokémon are currently being healed and this isn't something you can just hope to do again and again with every gym leader. You need to be realistic."

"Well _you_ need to stop being so grouchy." He stood, swiped his tray from the table and stomped away. "I'm gonna go talk to someone who can at least _pretend_ to be happy for me."

"I _am _happy for you Ash, I just don't want you going on an ego trip like Gary and getting yourself killed by thinking you can do something like withstand another point-blank electrical blast!"

"Well no one asked you to care!" He slammed his tray back onto the returns counter and stormed off out of the canteen, fully aware of all the eyes on the back of his head. He felt his ears burning and knew full well that argument had _not_ gone in his favour.

"Stupid Misty," he grumbled as he stormed out of the pokémon centre. He picked a direction at random and began to walk, refusing to move out of the way for any of the pedestrians.

It was only when he had walked several blocks that he finally slowed down and began to pay attention to his surroundings again. The street he was on was filled with shops with colourful advertisement posters. He stopped at a street vending machine to buy a bottle of water and sighed at the pokémon accessory store. A person in an onix costume was twirling a sign advertising all of their discounts. It was a strange contrast to the shop next door, with a woman in a school girl uniform, bouncing around and grinning widely as she tried to entice tourists in.

It was lonely without Pikachu or Misty. Ash was keenly aware of how small he was compared to the rest of the street. He found an unoccupied bench a road over from the human traffic and sighed as he leaned his head against the hot metal.

Cherry blossoms danced in the wind around him. He opened his water and took a deep drink, only just becoming aware of how much his brow was soaked with sweat.

He tried to distract himself by ringing home. Once again it went straight to voicemail. He left another message and began to wonder if he had done something wrong without knowing it. That lightning blast had been the catalyst to his journey - maybe something in that caused all his problems too.

He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. It was a stupid idea. Pikachu was strong, but they were a long way away from being 'capable of rewriting known facts' strong.

He scrolled aimlessly through his pokédex in an attempt to distract himself. He wanted to do something other than head back to the pokémon centre and apologise to Misty. As he looked through his contacts list, he stopped on Professor Oak's number.

It _had_ been a while. The Professor had said that if Ash ever needed anything, all he had to do was call…

Ash hit the video call button and was surprised when the professor himself picked up after only two beats. He was in his office, which looked like a tornado had hit it. His desk was covered in loose sheets of paper that even from the video phone, Ash could see the numerous corrections Professor Oak had made to the text. Books were open and on the floor, and there were several full cups of coffee both on the desk and the window ledge. Judging by the looks of them, some had even been there for several days.

"Ash!" Professor Oak's smile filled him with a sense of warmth, even through a screen. "It's good to hear from you, my boy. Please, forgive the clutter. I was marking my students' summer reports and then got a little distracted by some new research ideas." He laughed self consciously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Nothing really," Ash said, "I just thought I should try and ring and say 'hi' is all. You gave me Pikachu, and you seem pretty close with my mom."

There was a brief look in the professor's face that Ash found himself unable to discern. It was like a mixture of panic, guilt and embarrassment, all rolled into one.

"But I beat Brock!"

"Ash - that's wonderful news!" Whatever he had started to say was cut off quickly by the smile and quick applause he gave him. "I'm glad to hear it. How did your match fare? I've seen your registry and would I be wrong in assuming that you led with your mankey?"

"I didn't even use Sun," Ash gloated. "I beat Brock only with pokémon that are meant to be weak to his. That's what I want to do, Professor! I want to show everyone that it doesn't matter what some rulebook says, it's the pokémon's heart that determines how good a battler it is."

"My, my," said the professor. He was looking around his office, as if he had lost something. Ash wondered how he ever managed _not_ to lose anything in there. If his mother had seen the place, she would have had a fit before dragging the Professor by the ear to the nearest cleaning cupboard to make him start cleaning. The professor cried out in jubilation when he found a plain white coffee cup, only to spit out the coffee mere moments after drinking it.

"Note to self; check the milk _before_ drinking coffee," he muttered. "Anyway, I'm thrilled to hear you have a plan for what you want to do, Ash. Just remember not to limit yourself, my boy. You're young and the world is yours. Listen to the old man when he tells you to embrace this time as much as you can."

"I'm planning on it," Ash said. "Just wait, I'll show the gym leaders what strong pokémon truly are, and then I'll become the next Master and show the world!"

"I don't doubt it, Ash," said the professor. "Now, before I forget; I'm aware that there's been some League-based interest in Mount Moon recently and that they've cordoned off portions of the trainer tunnels. I think that you should think about taking the route over the mountain if you choose to go that way, or maybe even seek an alternate path entirely."

"Thanks Professor! By the way, have you spoken to my mom at all recently?"

"Delia?" The professor appeared to choke on something. "I-well, that is to say-" he took a deep breath, "- yes, I saw her just yesterday, as it so happens. She did mention that she hasn't heard from you in some time."

"But I call all the time!" Ash protested. "I'm always leaving messages and she never gets back to me! Is she… did I do something?"

"Oh Ash." The professor shook his head. "My boy, don't be so down. It's nothing to do with you. And don't look quite so dejected! I'm too old to deal with the emotional challenge of wanting to hug you whilst being stuck on video phone." He sighed. "Delia, your mother… she's been busy of late. Working longer hours than usual, often forgetting when we've made plans. I'll speak with her, Ash. She talks about you constantly, so I'm sure it's nothing bad. Perhaps she just forgot to pay her phone bill and hasn't been able to listen to her voicemail!"

"Yeah maybe," Ash agreed, even though he knew that his mother would often overpay bills, just to make sure she never ran into any debts. "When you see her, just tell her that I love her."

"Of course I will." The professor smiled deviously at him. "And of course, you know that she'll ask to see if I checked if you've been changing your-"

"Oh for_-_ _yes_ Professor," Ash groaned. He buried his face in a hand and stared at the screen through a gap in his fingers. "Yes I've been changing my underwear. What is it with you old people and feeling the need to embarrass me?"

"It's part of being an adult, my boy. Our elders did it to us, so we feel the need to continue the tradition." He cheered when he found a mug of coffee that actually still had steam coming out of it. "Anyway, I should get back to my work. I'm pleased to hear you're doing well, my boy. Don't ever hesitate about contacting me - I'm here whenever you need me, for whatever it may be." He took a long sip of his coffee and closed his eyes as he sighed. "And don't ever start drinking coffee. Once you start, it's a process you'll never be able to take back."

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It only took 13 chapters to finally get around to a gym battle! I wanted to play around with it a lot and have it set in such a way that makes it a bit more realistic than the canon version of 'turn up to gym, battle, win, leave.' Hopefully this is a good mix between fantasy and reality.


	14. Lithification - IV

Jessie groaned as she stretched her back. Telekinesis was _not_ a fun way to travel - the pain of having her entire body locked in place for over ten minutes too nearly three times as long to begin to vanish. She growled as she rotated her arms, trying to get some feeling of life into them.

"Sorry," James apologised, once again.

Jessie shook her head. "It's fine, James, really." Meowth padded along beside them, surprisingly silent.

The moment they had crossed the lake, Jessie knew that something was amiss. The rock floor beneath them felt different, somehow. It was only when she saw the rocks forming a pattern that could _not_ occur naturally did she begin to piece the clues together.

They followed a suspiciously linear rock formation, into the mouth of another tunnel when she got her answers. Electricity cables. Whatever was happening down here, they had found it. The tunnel they walked through was no longer hidden beneath the natural architecture of the mountain. The floor was solid steel. Harsh, cold white light bathed their world in its sterile glow. She was amazed and insulted at how worn out they looked - compared to what she knew could occur in Mount Silver, they had experienced _nothing_.

Their footsteps echoed for what seemed like an eternity. Just as she was about to cry out for the tunnel to finally lead them to its destination, she saw the end in sight.

When they reached the end, she felt her jaw drop open in amazement. What awaited them was a _temple_ \- there was no other word Jessie could think of to describe it. The steel tunnels lead into an ancient, crumbling tomb of rock sculptures. Jessie brushed her hand against one in awe, wondering what sort of pokémon it could have depicted. The body was vaguely humanoid, though the face had been weathered to time. She saw James approach what appeared to be an ancient rhydon, carved so realistically she could believe it would come to life.

Statues of ancient pokémon lined the edges of the chamber they stood in. The middle of the chamber had stone stairs that were each as large as she was. Beside them, she saw that a steel, manmade staircase had been erected, drilled into the sides.

Without needing to ask each other first, they began to climb the steel staircase. Jessie was stunned into silence as she stared at the chamber, illuminated by artificial lighting. The stones were crumbling away, though the archways in the building were still there, twice as tall as she was. Her neck began to ache again as she followed the building up, looking at the large, windowless frames that adorned what appeared to be less of a temple and more of a _palace._

They reached the top of the staircase and impossibly, found a person stood on the walkway before them. Tough his back was to them, Jessie was already on edge. His brown leather jacket, designed more for use on a motorcycle than adventuring, was pristine, undamaged. The flaafy wool collar was a spotless white. He wore black suit trousers and a pair of black shoes that had been shined so well, Jessie could see the reflection of his grave face in them.

When he turned, Jessie took a step back instinctively. His face was cold, almost cut from stone. His skin, under the harsh, clinical lighting, seemed so pale it was almost translucent. His hair, a vivid shade of orange, was combed neatly, falling to his shoulders, though it merged seamlessly into his beard.

"How good of you all to finally join me," he said, his voice carrying. He sounded like he was used to speaking to an audience, his tone clearly educated. Though she would not have thought it possible before, it somehow put Jessie further on edge. "I've been waiting for what feels like an eternity."

"If this is the part where he tells us he's a ghost, I am _officially_ outta here," Meowth whispered.

"Right back at ya," Jessie agreed. To the man she nodded and took a step forwards. "Our apologies for taking so long. We're here to help re-establish comms topside."

"A tall order," the man said. Jessie felt like she _was_ talking to a ghost. With the way he stood there, as still as a statue, Jessie considered the notion for far longer than she would have otherwise. Even his speech seemed long rehearsed, as if he had been saying the same thing over and over.

"Yes well, we're nothing if not competent," Jessie answered. She glanced at James, confused as to his sudden silence. He stared at the man, a hand underneath his chin as if examining him. Thinking nothing of it, Jessie strode towards the man. "My name is Jessie," she said, extending her hand, "and we're here to-"

Her hand passed _through_ his.

Jessie screamed, recoiling instantly. "What _are _you?" she demanded. She heard Meowth yelp before his familiar weight clung to her leg.

Cowering, Jessie fell back a step. To her surprise, James strode towards them and bent in front of the _thing_, grunting as he examined the ground. With a shout of success, James swiped something from the floor.

Instantly, the man _vanished_. Jessie screamed again.

James laughed as he held up a small device for Jessie to see. Her heart thundering in her chest, she scowled at the machine, attempting to work out just what it was.

"It's a hologram," James explained, walking back to her. He presented the device to her and Meowth, though to Jessie, it looked like nothing more than a complicated webcam. "I thought I recognised him before. This is holocaster technology, from Kalos."

"So this is a trap?" Jessie asked.

"I'm not sure," James admitted. "I think maybe," he said as he placed the device back on the ground. Signalling for them to take a step back, he waited until they complied before activating the holocaster once more.

"How good of you to finally join me," the hologram said once more. Though she knew it was all fake, it still set Jessie's nerves on edge.

"Fancy show, Lysandre," James said. Jessie blinked as the image _fizzled_ before her eyes. With a _pop_, the image took the shape of the same man once more, though his hair was unkempt, his eyes surrounded by large, black bags.

"Team Rocket," Lysandre said, sighing. "How nice of you to _finally_ arrive."

"I don't understand," James said. "I thought that outside communications had been switched off. How are you even talking to us right now?"

"They have," Lysandre told them. "I'm not outside. I'm _in_ this hellhole, trapped with everyone else until this place gets power up and running. The entrance to this facility is guarded by a set of electric doors that can withstand a nuclear blast. Unfortunately, they're all locked down."

"Ain't that always the way," Meowth whispered, grinning.

"Yes, well, to lift the lockdown, you will have to use the manual reset located elsewhere. This holo-device holds the coordinates. Unfortunately, if my assumptions are correct, I would assume that the escaped project is the reason why every other team thus far has failed. I assume that it is more than just the three of you, correct?"

"Uh, of course," Jessie said quickly. "Now, about this '_escaped project'_?"

Lysandre sighed once more. "It's a pokémon, native to the Alola region. We thought it would hold answers to questions we've been trying to solve for years. During one of the experiments it escaped and caused the very lockdown we're trapped behind."

"What is it?" James whispered. "We may have seen it earlier. It didn't look like _anything_ I've ever seen before."

"It won't," Lysandre told them. "It's a pokémon known as mimikyu. Whenever they've been seen before, they're always hidden under a costume, like a lost child at Halloween. We thought that if we removed its costumes, removed its ability to hide, we would find answers."

"Well, well done you," Meowth spat. "You played with fire and guess what? _You. Got. Burnt._" With a flick of his paw he disengaged the communication, leaving them staring at the device. "I say we leave them there to rot."

"But," James protested, "there are people down there! All that work they've done! We can't let that be lost!"

"So what?" Meowth snarled. "They wanna play around with another being's life? Serves them right that they're locked in there. Karma's a fickle bitch."

"_Enough_," Jessie growled, holding her hands up between them. She sighed, considering their options. Much as she would like to leave and see the back of the place, she knew it could never be an option. "Meowth's right," she admitted, "though James is _also_ right," she added, talking over their protests.

She sighed as she looked up at the roof of the cavern, nearly blinding herself with the lights that shone above them. "Maybe they shouldn't have done what they did, Meowth, but that pokémon they brought here is still out there, terrorising other pokémon. It may have even killed that person we found dead with the excadrill. Meanwhile, yes James, the work they're doing must have some importance, but to hide it down here…" She sighed as she buried her face in her hands. "I don't like either of these options, but we have a job to do. Like it or not, there's only the three of us. You heard Lysandre - they sent out people more than once, and none of them have come back.

"But we have an ace up our sleeves," she said, looking to Meowth. "We'll restore the power and free them, but we'll also find out what they were doing in there." Meeting Meowth's eyes, she admitted, "I don't like secrets."

"And if that _thing_ out there is too much?" James asked.

"Then we leave," Jessie said. "We can't help anyone if we're dead, and I would much rather admit defeat than stop breathing."

"I suppose you're right," he admitted, sighing. "Lead the way, Jessie."

She nodded, never once taking her gaze away from Meowth. "And you? Are you onboard with this?"

Meowth deflated, all anger vanishing in a moment. "Course I am, Jess. I might think they deserve to die down here, but I don't think I could just leave them so heartlessly. We'll help them."

"We're in agreement then?" She looked between them both, waiting for them to nod before she groaned. "The one time I would have _liked_ it if you told me my plan was stupid." Chuckling, if only to stop herself from crying, she took the machine off James and activated the tracking system. It showed her a rudimentary map of the network of tunnels, as well as the location of the manual reset switch.

_Nothing worth doing is ever easy_, she told herself. For once however, she desperately wanted the opposite to be true.

**-0-0-0-**

Brock sighed as he stretched his back. The chorus of _cracks_ that sounded would have twisted most people's stomachs in disgust. Instead it filled him with a sense of relief.

The kitchen was quiet, as it usually was so late at night. He had only closed the gym an hour prior and had ignored the usual challenges of paperwork for a night of actually getting to see his own home before the clock hit single digits again.

Having rescued his food from the microwave, Brock added a diced egg and stirred in a generous portion of mustard. Still stirring, he moved into the garden, embracing the night's cool air as it danced over his skin. Like most of Kanto, Pewter could sometimes be excessively humid in the hotter months. With the large volumes of dust that seemed to circulate in the city at all times, it sometimes felt like they were breathing hot, wet rock.

Brock knelt by the garden pond he still remembered his mother insisting they install and listened to the sound of the miniature waterfall. He ate slowly, his mind still back at the gym, replaying one battle in particular over and over.

Misty _had_ said that he would surprise him. Brock just had failed to consider her warning when he had found himself battling yet another newbie with a butterfree. It was a pleasant and exhilarating change of pace.

At the sound of the _shōji_ opening behind him, Brock turned. Seeing Forrest approach, Brock smiled and turned his attention back to the waterfall.

"Hey, Ani," Forrest said, kneeling beside him.

"Hey Forrest," Brock replied. "Everyone's gone to bed already I'm guessing?"

Forrest snorted. "Yeah, like three hours ago." He placed his hands behind his head and began to stretch. Brock's nose twisted and he made the mental note to go buy as much deodorant as physically possible and educate his brother on how to use it. Puberty was _no_ excuse for having grimer for armpits. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff," he said, making a disgusted sound. "Who even likes _nattō_, other than old people?"

"Oh, so I'm _old_ now?" Brock asked, laughing.

"Obviously." He reached over and began parting Brock's hair. "I think I can see a couple of grey hairs. Start of a bald spot too."

"Shut up," Brock said, still laughing as he pushed him away. "If I'm going bald now that just means you'll be doing so in two years' time."

"Nuh-uh," Forrest retorted, poking his tongue out. "I got the good genes. You're just a dud."

"_Nice_. I'll remember that the next time you ask me to help with _anything_. Like your homework. Which I'm assuming still isn't done?"

"Of course it is!" Forrest said reflexively. As Brock raised an eyebrow, he laughed nervously. "Well, I mean, in _theory_ it's done. In practice might be another thing."

Brock pushed his bowl of food closer towards him. "I will make you eat every bean of _nattō _we have in this house if I find you're slacking off."

"Yeah well, we can't all be gym leaders like you."

Brock laughed humourlessly. "Yeah, because that's exactly as fun as it seems. Getting in from the gym at one in the morning, leaving to open the next morning at six, probably giving myself a heart condition from all the energy drinks I consume at work to stay awake." Remembering just who he was talking to, Brock quickly stopped talking and began eating again. "I mean, never mind. At least with school you'll have options."

"Yeah but, what if what I want to do is run the gym? I saw your battles earlier, Ani. That kid with the pikachu and the two fliers? You could have flattened them all in one hit if you'd wanted to."

"That's not the idea of gyms," Brock said, exhaling a long-suffering sound. "We exist to challenge people, to teach them to adapt to new and different scenarios. Sweeping a trainer doesn't teach them anything. If I just used my own personal team on everyone that came through here, people would stop coming. I'm not Giovanni - I don't have the wealth of several successful businesses and the infamy of being an ex-Champion to fall back on. I'm just a gym leader."

Forrest opened his mouth to answer back, though whatever retort he had was lost when the _shōji_ doors opened behind them. They spun around and jumped to their feet as one, grinning as Hala emerged from the house.

"Grandpa!" Brock called, still smiling. He saw movement behind him, still in the house, and his smile widened further at the person who emerged behind him. "Uncle Bruno!"

"Takeshi! Jirō!" Bruno's voice was as deep and soothing as Brock remembered. Brock had often thought that he would be a perfect candidate for audiobooks designed to be listened to as the person slept. Like Hala, Bruno had a calm, immovable tone to his voice. "Good to see you both," he said, sweeping them both up in a hug.

"How're you?" Brock asked. "How comes you're here?" He glanced back into the house and frowned. "How's Uncle Kiyo?"

The way that Hala stiffened, even now, let Brock know that apparently not all the old wounds were fully healed, even if they pretended otherwise. Regardless, Bruno's face lit up.

"He's good, still in Saffron at the moment, leading the Dojo. He's been handing out tyrogue to the strongest challengers he's had and trains them in how to handle them."

"That's good," Forrest chimed in. "Tell him thanks for teaching Brock how to properly make _tenmusu_. Honestly, his cooking was getting kinda _boring_ before that."

"I'd like to see _you_ try to make anything in the kitchen other than a mess," Brock shot back. "I swear, this one here could manage to set fire to _cereal._"

"Boys," Hala said, laughing as he placed a large, meaty hand on each of their shoulders. "Enough of the sibling squabbles. Jirō, would you mind leaving us with Takeshi for a little bit? We have something important to discuss."

"Sure," Forrest said, though the distrust was evident on his face. "I'll be in my room, doing my _homework_." The last part was accompanied by a quick, rude gesture entirely for Brock's benefit, performed in such a way that no one else noticed.

As Forrest entered the house, Brock felt the atmosphere change. "Alright, what's happened?" he asked, cutting to the chase. "I'm not stupid. Grandpa, you wouldn't have asked Uncle Bruno here for nothing. And no offence Uncle Bruno, but unless Uncle Kiyo has dragged you here, you don't often come to visit unless something important is happening."

"We all have our faults," Bruno admitted. His hair was unbound, reaching the midpoint of his back. Some fell over the front of his white tank top, managing to perfectly hide the chest tattoos that Brock honestly was uncertain if Hala knew existed. "But we have news. I'm retiring from the Elite Four."

"Uncle?" Brock asked, shocked. "What? Why?"

He shrugged. "It has been rightly pointed out to me that I have buried myself in my work for too long." There was a quick, pointed look at Hala that Brock did not fail to notice. "Father and I contacted your father, in the hope that he may have wanted to redeem himself." Brock felt his face twist. "As evident by your expression, you do not approve. Flint rejected our offer."

"Surprise, surprise," Brock muttered, darkly.

"Regardless," Bruno continued, "you are still my family. When you took over this gym, it was in a period of unofficial turmoil in Kanto. I can't tell you the specifics, but allow me to summarise that even gym leaders are not told everything."

"I'm not that surprised to be honest," Brock admitted. He glanced down at the ground, where he had dropped his food in his excitement. Sighing, he turned his gaze back to Hala. "So why are you both here?"

"Because I'm going to take over the gym," Bruno said.

Brock felt a plethora of emotions. He was hurt, offended that they thought he was unable to cope. He was overjoyed that he may be free of the burden. He was worried for his siblings. He was _terrified_ of having to go back into educated, to discover just how far below average he would now be.

He summed up his emotions into the most intelligent question that his mind could fathom.

"What?"

"If you're willing to agree," Bruno added. He wrapped an arm around Brock's shoulders and drew him in for a sidelong hug. "Myself and your grandfather have spoken about this at length. You're not happy with your position here. You possibly haven't been for a while. It's our failure for not helping sooner."

"Which is why I'm offering you the opportunity to travel back with me to Alola," Hala said. "We may not have your traditional gym circuit, but we do have our own challenge in the form of an Island Challenge."

"I…" Brock's tongue felt too large for his mouth. It was so sudden and yet, so _overdue_. He had longed for this day for so long that now it was here, he found himself unable to decide on what to do.

"Forrest wants to be a gym leader," he found himself saying.

To his surprise, Bruno closed his eyes and nodded. "I had suspected as much. We treated you unfairly, Takeshi. Because we were so swept up with other concerns, we bent rules and twisted protocol to push your position along. If this is what your brother wants, I can guide him through it officially, properly."

"What about Uncle Kiyo?" Brock asked.

Bruno smiled. "We've been talking about buying a house closer to Pewter for some time, to be nearer to all of you. He's an only child and his parents both died some time ago. I, and by extension, all of you, are his only family now. Don't you worry about us. For once, Takeshi, you're being presented with the chance to put yourself first."

"I don't want to go to Alola," he admitted, unable to meet Hala's eyes. "I don't know what I want to do, but I know I don't want to be far away." He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to look up. "Uncle Bruno, I mean no offence, but I've spent the past five years looking after my siblings. There's _nine_ children that you're saying you're going to start looking after. I can't just… I can't do what my parents did to them and leave."

"That's completely reasonable," Bruno said. "Takeshi, we did wrong by you in letting you suffer for this long alone. I'm not saying that I'll be able to cope well suddenly having nine dependents. I probably will spend a lot of time wondering why I decided to do this," he admitted, laughing nervously. "I'm just giving you the chance to do what you've missed out on so far."

Brock could feel the gears working in his mind. There was one battle, still replaying in his head. He remembered a conversation from a week ago. His siblings would still be looked after. They would have not just one, but two parental figures once more. There was one person, an old friend, and perhaps even the person she travelled with that could use a helping hand.

"I think I know what I want to do," Brock said. "Do you guys mind if I just call a friend? I need to know if this will work."

"Of course," Hala said, stepping out of his way. "We'll be downstairs if you need us."

"Thanks." Brock's heart was racing. His body felt lighter than he remembered it ever feeling. He raced up the stairs, taking them three at a time. He heard Forrest in his room, cursing as he tried to recall algebra formulas. Suzie was talking in her sleep again. Salvadore was still awake, tossing and turning in bed, no doubt with a torch and a book under the covers.

Brock faltered. It would be the last time in a long time that he would be hearing such things. The last time that he would be near his family. His hands shook as he opened his bedroom door and unplugged his phone from the charger.

It would be so easy to go back downstairs, to say that his plans bore no fruit, that he would have to stick around.

But then, would he not just be setting a different form of a bad example for everyone?

Swallowing nervously, he quashed the nervous butterflies in his stomach and flicked through his phone. Hitting the dial button, he pressed the phone to his ear and silently rejoiced in the fact he had reached the point of no return.

"Hey, Misty!" he greeted cheerily as she answered. "Yeah, sorry about the time, but I've just got some news." He began pacing his room, unable to keep still. "Random question, but how much longer are you going to be in Pewter for? Two more days, huh? I know that this might seem out of the blue, but would you be opposed to me joining you both in your travels?"

Her enthusiastic agreement filled him with confidence that it was the right idea.

**-0-0-0-**

_One, two, Freddy's coming for you._

Sometimes, Jessie _really_ wished that she never spent so much time as a teenager watching horror films. Her life with Team Rocket was scary - _terrifying, _honestly - yet somehow she dealt with that. She could deal with angry pokémon, death threats, pokémon strong enough to level mountains… yet the moment anything seemed slightly out of the ordinary, her brain would take her back to those times in her youth, snuggled under a blanket and shrieking at the supernatural horrors she found entertaining.

On some level she knew ghost pokémon could be behind so much. There was a logic to their abilities, even if she did not fully understand it.

Yet as they continued through the darkness of Mount Silver, their footsteps echoing endlessly, she found her brain replaying those films, tormenting her with the _what ifs_ that _could_ be laying in wait within the darkness.

_You're just scared,_ she told herself, _scared of things you can't defend yourself from. This? You can._

"That's right," she whispered to herself. "Escaped science projects are well within my skillset."

"Hm?" Meowth grunted. In the low light of the tunnels, his eyes almost seemed to glow yellow. "You say something, Jess?"

She knew damn well that his ears picked up every little whisper she made. "Nothing," she said, "just talking to myself." Stepping over a rock that could have been a geodude laying in wait, she turned to James. "Any ideas of how to combat this thing?"

"If what we went through earlier is any clue, this thing must be a ghost," James answered. He had strapped a torchlight to his head, which made his face seem to melt into the shadows. Jessie tried to suppress the thoughts that came floating through. "I think maybe we should consider investing in some dark pokémon, Jessie. If we keep encountering things like this, and if the rumours are true-"

"James!" Jessie hissed, glaring, despite the fact she knew he could not see her.

"I know, the walls have ears. It _is_ something we should discuss at some point though."

"I'm aware," Jessie muttered. Pausing, she followed James' torchlight and glanced at the navigation details Lysandre had given them. Honestly, she was _done_ with tunnels and creepy darkness. "You're right, but this isn't the time to discuss this." She sighed. "Our skills have got us this far, but that may not always be the case." She looked down to Meowth and added, "All of us have to get stronger, smarter if we want to continue. We're a team, right?"

"Exactly," James agreed. "After we're done here, why don't we-"

_Get out._

James' words were buried under his shriek. Jessie stared in horror as the walls around them seemed to contort, twist beyond her wildest imagination. The darkness began to spin, faster and faster. The world seemed to be filled with the sounds of crashing waves. She heard her friends cry out. Their screams were lost to the void.

Then suddenly, light.

Jessie hissed, throwing her arm over her face. She opened her eyes a fraction, squinting at the harsh, clinical white lights. She was in a familiar room, barren but for a small child's bed.

"Jessie!"

She spun at the voice, the _achingly_ familiar sound that existed only in her memories.

Stood before her was her mother, looking no different to the day Jessie saw her last. Her eyes were as bright blue as Jessie's own, her facial features almost identical. The earrings she wore were the very ones that she had left behind - the same ones that Jessie had used to pierce her own ears, all that time ago.

Miyamoto strode towards her. Jessie was surprised that she was taller than the woman now - she had always thought her mother was a giant among the crowds. Her hair, dyed purple, was curled and loose, raining down around her shoulders.

"Jessie," Miyamoto whispered, reaching out to touch her. Her shirt, a brilliant white, was left open far lower than Jessie would dare to. Her black waistcoat seemed dark enough to absorb the light around it. As her hand touched Jessie's cheek, Jessie almost wept. It was warm, solid to the touch.

"Oh, Jessie, my daughter," Miyamoto said. "How tall you grew. How strong you became." She pulled her hand back. "What a disappointment you turned out to be."

Jessie recoiled, feeling like someone had slipped a knife between her ribs. "E-excuse me?"

"I had such grand dreams for you," Miyamoto hissed. Her eyes seemed to darken. "At one point, I thought we could take on the world. Then I realised how _weak_ you were. How _frightened_ and _useless_ your existence was. I couldn't continue like that. I couldn't let people know that this _pitiful_ thing was my daughter."

She folded her arms and sneered at her. "You are the reason I left, Jessie."

"M-mom?"

"You heard," her mother growled. "How could I ever love someone like you?"

"Mom, I…" Jessie pressed her hands over her heart. "I thought you were after Mew."

"A ruse," she said, laughing. "Only a child would believe such a tale. Just another reason why I'm glad I didn't have to put up with you, Jessie."

Jessie sighed, staring at the floor. "You know, I've dreamed of this day for so long. I've played over every single possible conversation in my head. This has always been one of them - this has been my deepest fear.

"Do you truly know what fear is, _Mom_?" Jessie asked, striding towards her. "Being afraid and being scared are two entirely different concepts. Being scared of something just means you don't want to experience it. People are scared of bugs because they don't want to touch them. People are scared of heights because they don't want to fall and experience the plummet before they hit the earth.

"Fear keeps you awake at night," she continued, her voice almost a growl. She took a primitive pleasure in the way her _mother_ seemed to recoil at her words. "If you're afraid of something, it fills your mind, sits there, constantly poking and prodding, demanding attention. I may be scared of many things, but my fears? I'm afraid of what I can't solve myself. I'm a bit of a control freak, though I suppose I got that from you. The thing I've always been afraid of though, is this very thing. I lost count of the nights I would cry myself to sleep, telling myself that you had left because I wasn't a good enough daughter. It's funny. Hearing it now, coming from you? It's made me realise how naive, how truly self-centered such a thought was.

"My mother was many things," Jessie said, meeting Miyamoto's eyes. "My memories of her are sweet, clouded perhaps by my bias. But the thing I have learnt from piecing together every _scrap_ of information possible is that my mother had two loves in her life; her job and her daughter."

Jessie gestured at the white room that surrounded them. "This is very nice and all, but you'll have to try harder to truly make me afraid. I know what you are." She prodded the false illusion of her mother. "You're the pokémon that suffered at the hands of people trying to understand things they want to control. I may be many things, Mimikyu, but I am not those people. I am also _not_ afraid of you."

The image of her mother blurred, like static on an old television. The white lights around them dimmed. Jessie rubbed her eyes as the light began to fade, becoming swallowed by the darkness that seemed to unravel from her mother.

"You're… not afraid?" It no longer used her mother's voice. It was a twisted, demonic, almost _childlike_ sound.

"Not of you," Jessie said. "You're broken, hurt. I understand that. I _am_ that. The world has wronged you, like it's wronged me and many I care about. I can't offer to make it better, or to make that hurt go away. What I can say instead is that I can help you. The wrongs that have been done to you, they can be righted. We all have our baggage, but a good friend of mine recently told me that friends help you lighten the load."

"Oh," the thing whispered.

Jessie blinked. The world exploded into nothingness. Oddly, she did not feel the need to scream. Instead, in the middle of the darkness, she felt a presence reach out to her, almost holding her hand. She smiled into the void.

"I mean it," she said. Her words were sucked into oblivion, not even reaching her own ears. Still, she continued, "Everyone is broken. Sometimes though, you'll meet another being whose broken pieces fit perfectly with yours, creating a whole."

Her eyes adjusted back to the darkness of the tunnels. She saw James and Meowth sprawled out on the floor, facing the roof of the tunnel. Her heart leapt into her throat. Only when she felt the presence again, reassuring her that they were alive, just not fully conscious, did she relax slightly. Even still, she made certain to check their pulses to confirm it for herself.

She felt movement to her right and looked - to her surprise, she found herself staring at a pikachu. Except, the more she looked at it, the more she felt like _something_ was wrong. Its cheeks were a dull, muted shade of red. Its fur seemed pale and its eyes - _that_ was where the _wrongness_ came from. There was no life in them.

"They're alive," the mimikyu said. Its pikachu illusion moved its mouth as the words sounded in her mind, though Jessie's brain struggled to place her sense of vision with her sense of hearing. It was almost like there was a disconnect, with one telling the other what it was experiencing was the truth. "I… I have things to do… revenge."

The pikachu looked up at her with a primal bloodlust that made Jessie's spine crawl. "I will get it," the pokémon continued, "they have fled. I will find them. Afterwards, I join you."

"I'd like that," Jessie said. This pokémon was strong, she could tell that much. Yet her thoughts were not of domination with it at her side. She _cared_ for the thing, she realised. It had the ability to reach into her mind, present her with her deepest darkest fears and though that should have terrified her, she found herself wanting to know more about it.

"They lie."

Jessie grunted, following the direction the pikachu illusion looked towards. She guessed it was back the way they came, in the so-called _research_ facility that started this mess.

"I know," Jessie said. "They lie so much I'm not sure who knows the truth anymore."

"Not them," the pokémon told her. "Not who you think. The people who send you here. They lie. They wanted time to escape, to erase tracks."

"Oh," Jessie grunted. "Well, shit." There went the entire operation. Arianna would _not_ be pleased.

"They set trap," the pokémon continued. "Kill any who go there looking for them."

"_Great,"_ Jessie groaned. She glanced back down at her companions, still unconscious beside her, and sighed. "I have to go back there. I have to see what I can find. If I don't have any good news to give to my bosses, I'm afraid that you'll be meeting me when I'm a wandering spirit."

"Information," the mimikyu hissed. She felt a hand reach to her mind, yet her eyes told her nothing touched her head. She flinched at the contact, growling when she felt a pressure to relax flow through her. "Helping," the pokémon grunted, increasing the pressure on her mind.

Then the pikachu _vanished_, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

"I sure wish you both weren't busy sleeping," Jessie whispered, pressing her hand to James' face. He grunted, frowning at her touch. She wondered if they were experiencing their own version of what she had suffered, getting to greet their worst fears head on.

"Return," the mimikyu hissed, appearing from the darkness. Jessie surprised herself by not screaming. Instead she only leapt to her feet, heart racing, her arbok's poké ball already in her hand. "For you," the mimikyu said. The pikachu reached out, holding something small in its hands.

Jessie crouched back down and took the object from it, surprised when she saw just what it was. "A flashdrive?" she turned it over in her hands, looking for any signs of sabotage. "How do you even know what this is?"

"I learn," the mimikyu said. "People there study me. I study them. Learn weaknesses. Learn how to kill." It's eyes almost seemed to flash red. Jessie swallowed nervously as she tucked the flash drive into a pocket.

"Thank you," she said. "You didn't have to do that."

"Wanted to," the pokémon told her. "You offer to help. I help too." The pikachu looked around in the darkness, frowning. "When they wake, I guide you. Lead you to surface, away from danger."

"I'd appreciate that," Jessie said. "How will you find me though, when you're finished with your revenge?"

"I know you," the pokémon answered her. "Touched your soul. Can track you now. Always."

That was possibly the most disconcerting thing she had heard for quite some time.


	15. Interlude - III

Gary's heart felt like it was in his throat. He had never thought of battling like _this_ before.

The Nugget Bridge was an old expressway, used before the roads for vehicles were built underground. Three lanes on each side, with what was once a concrete fence dividing the two. Their arena was in the middle of the bridge, the fence chipped away by old signs of battle. His 'podium' was a broken chunk of concrete that had fallen on its side, metal poles sticking out from the middle of its wounds.

The crowds were circled around them, cheering and screaming. The metal structure was warped and twisted from countless pokémon battles, giving it a bizarre beauty. Beneath, the river ebbed and flowed, carrying with it the smell of fresh water. Gary felt the breeze touch his hair, cool against his sweat-covered skin.

There were no safety barriers. Every attack was one that he felt, be it by the blades in the wind, the dust that was kicked up or the heat of the flames.

"Kuma, _down!_"

His teddiursa threw himself to the floor. The ball of fire hurtled over the tiny cub. Eyes wide, Gary realised almost too late where the fire was going. He jumped from the chunk of concrete he stood on, landing harshly on the ground beneath. His hands stung with grit and dirt. Kuma rolled to cover him, snarling at the charmander. Gary heard the other trainer's voice berating the pokémon and found himself wanting to crush him more than ever.

"Kuma, race in, fury swipes!"

Gary forced himself to his feet. The crowd was chanting, screaming for blood. His pokémon raced in, claws raised and threw himself at the charmander. The fire pokémon was too slow to dodge. It fell on the floor with a cry, suffering under the onslaught. The trainer cursed Gary, threatening him in all manner of ways Gary was certain were anatomically impossible.

The charmander's cries seemed to turn into a snarling scream. Gary's spine felt like someone had poured ice down it. He looked around at the circle of the crowd and found no friendly faces there. None of them seemed to know what it meant - if they did, they clearly did not care.

Gary climbed his way back onto the chunk of concrete he had used as a stand and called Kuma back to his side. The charmander _howled_ as it leaped back to its feet, the flame on its tail burning blue.

Gary swore. There was no cover to exploit. No river to hide in. All Kuma's fire-dampening moves needed something to help put out the flames.

The charmander's trainer called for it to breathe fire. Gary ducked behind his cover. Kuma jumped to his side, growling as the air began to boil. The heat washed over them. He heard some of the crowd scream. Smelt what seemed to be burning hair. The charmander continued to snarl, eager to exact revenge.

"I have an idea," Gary whispered, looking to his pokémon. "Reckon you can break off a piece of this rubble?"

With curious, wide eyes, his pokémon reached up to the concrete shielding them and snapped off a chunk of rock in his tiny paws. Gary smiled as he took it from his pokémon, tossing it between his hands as the plan came to mind. "On my mark, take down the charmander, okay?"

His pokémon nodded. Gary took a breath to calm his nerves.

They did say _any _tactics were permitted after all…

Gary jumped out of cover the moment the flames stopped. The heat of the air felt like he had jumped into an oven. The charmander's trainer was screaming commands. Gary lined him up in his sights and with years of practice from throwing poké balls, launched the chunk of rock.

It nailed the other trainer in the middle of his forehead. He went down screaming, clutching at his head in agony. The charmander paused, turning to its trainer.

"Now!" Gary cried. Kuma raced towards the charmander, snarling sounds that were more adorable than terrifying. His claws were sharp, almost gleaming as they caught the light. The charmander was too distracted. Kuma closed the distance between them and slashed it across the stomach. Wounded, it cried out. Kuma jumped up and smashed his skull into the charmander's snout. It fell backwards, clutching its face.

Kuma leaped at it, claws bared. Instead it hit nothing but red energy as the other trainer recalled it.

"You cheat!" the trainer screamed, clutching his forehead with his free hand. "You and your little scumbag bear!"

The crowd was booing. Gary's stomach flipped. He thought, for a horrible moment that they were dismissing him, out for his blood.

Then another boy walked towards the trainer, perhaps only a few years older than Gary. His hair was a dark shade of red and flowed down to his shoulders. What Gary noticed most were his eyes, a sort of piercing dark blue that made his insides feel funny when he looked at them.

"Damien, right?" the boy said.

"What of it?" the trainer screeched.

The boy snatched Damien by the ear and casually tossed him aside as if he weighed nothing. "Rules were once you're out of battling pokémon you're out." He took a stance opposite Gary and tossed a poké ball between them. A zubat burst forth, fluttering silently in the sky. It was a common pokémon, no bigger than Gary's forearm. Yet something about the pokémon put Gary on edge.

"I'm not done!" Damien whined, getting back to his feet. "My charmander was weak, that's why he won! Let me back in!"

A woman walked up to Damien, her heels _clacking_ along the ground. Her pinstriped pantsuit made her seem like she had just come to visit on her lunch break. Her hair, an almost pink shade of red was curled, reaching down to her chest. The frames of her glasses were the same colour as her hair.

"The rules were anything goes. Now out of my way, you screeching brat. I want to make this fight more interesting." She fixed him with such a pointed look that Gary found himself personally afraid of the repercussions. "Stay here flapping your gums like a beached magikarp and I'll have my pokémon remove you."

She tossed forwards a poké ball from which a venonat emerged. It buzzed curiously, as if unused to large crowds. Gary instantly pegged it as being a new capture, though the woman seemed far too old to be a new trainer.

"Vincent, darling, paralyze these clowns!"

Gary sucked in a breath as the venonat cleared the distance between them in one leap. He had thought that it would have gone after their pokémon. Instead it raced past them and began scattering yellow spores. His skin erupted into a rash where they touched. His fingers felt like they were slow, like he had plunged his hand into honey.

Kuma raced at the venonat, claws raised. The bug bounced out of Kuma's way, trilling furiously. The zubat screeched as it beat its wings hard enough to create blades of wind that Gary could _see_ cutting through the air. The venonat spun around them in mid air, still shedding yellow powder. The blades of wind severed the clouds of stunning pollen, scattering them further.

Gary buried his nose under his shirt. The other trainer was doing the same. Their eyes met and _something _seemed to click between them, an understanding of sorts.

Then the trainer turned and had his sneasel fire a beam of solid ice at Kuma. Gary swore and jumped into a forward roll, feeling the temperature drop over him. He had never even seen him recall his zubat, let alone send out a sneasel! He sprung back up to his feet, right in front of the boy. He scowled up at him, ignoring the way his stomach bubbled in an unfamiliar way.

The boy smirked at him. "You may want to move."

Gary's mind was slow to catch up. He felt the wind seem to cut in two behind him. Screaming, Gary dropped to the floor. The boy had already moved, faster than Gary would have thought possible. The venonat, still shrieking, passed over Gary, hissing as it shed poisonous powders behind it.

Gary spun around and recalled his pokémon, unsurprised to find that he was unconscious. The two others had almost forgotten about him - their pokémon were exchanging quick, vicious blows. The venonat's eyes shone blue as it jumped into the sky. Gary went to laugh, knowing that psychic abilities would never bother the sneasel, not unless the psychic was _extremely_ well trained. But the venonat's target was not the sneasel. The blue glow surrounding its eyes spread to the rest of its body.

It was using telekinesis on _itself_, moving its body out of the way of the sneasel's rapidfire slashes, far faster than its body would have ever been capable of doing so naturally.

Gary's hand was held ready over Talon's poké ball. The fearow would bring a welcome change to the battle and even give him a brilliant advantage over the venonat.

These trainers, however, were not something he had been prepared to face. The challenge was to defeat five trainers for a shot a grand prize. Before his eyes, Gary was watching his inadequacy spelled out for him.

Sullenly, he retreated back into the crowd, though he continued to watch. The venonat was shedding poisonous spikes onto the floor as it soared after the sneasel, still carried by its psychic powers. The sneasel had begun to race around it, trying to confuse it with its agility. Gary watched as the pokémon ran in circles, faster and faster, until it seemed like there were multiple copies of it sprinting.

Gary blinked, his eyes struggling to focus. He realised belatedly that there _were_ multiple sneasels.

There was no way that he could think of for the venonat to figure out which one was which. Its eyesight was known to be exemplary, but not _that_ good. Though at its trainer's command, it began to _hum_, generating a frequency that made the budding hairs on Gary's arms stand on end.

Someone's hand leant on Gary's shoulder. He moved to glare at them, to make them retract their hand. Instead a feeling of nausea welled up, almost threatening to overwhelm him. Whatever the venonat was doing was affecting the sneasel too. The clones were beginning to fade, as if absorbed back into the sunlight.

Finally there was only one sneasel left. The venonat, still glowing blue, surged at the pokémon with such speed that in the space of blinking, it was upon it, sinking its fangs into the sneasel's neck. The pokémon screamed in pain, claws swiping unsuccessfully at the bug.

Finally the trainer recalled it. He stared at the poké ball with an unreadable expression on his face.

Gary heard someone clear their throat behind him. Turning his head as he moved out of their way, he watched as a tall man with a meowth on his shoulder walked forwards. His shirt, a dark shade of blue that matched his hair, was decorated with buttons that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip. His belt, curiously, seemed to be woven from actual roses, which continued to spiral down his black trousers, wrapped around his left leg.

"We can't let her grow too confident, can we, Meowth?" He spoke to the pokémon as if it were able to answer him back. His smile was wide, his teeth too perfect. "Jesselina, we meet again. I'll be glad to bring your winning streak to an end."

The woman laughed in a way that sent shivers down Gary's spine. He noticed that the sneasel's trainer had moved away from the battlefield and into the crowd, though he too was remaining behind to watch. Gary began to move through the crowd towards him, though his attention remained enraptured by the two trainers.

"Oh, Jamie, when will you learn?" she said, her voice sickly sweet. She pressed a finger to her pouting lips. "All is fair and love and war, and I'm better than you in both." She winked as she recalled her venonat. In its place she brought forth a large, muscular black snake. Its fangs were as long as Gary's forearms. Golden scales formed the pattern of jewels across its body. Its bladed tail was serrated, dripping with poison. Even laying flat on the ground, it was still as tall as the woman's knees.

Gary heard people in the crowd scream and run. He could understand the fear of snakes, so close to this _monster_. He reached the sneasel's trainer's side and nudged him, raising his eyebrows at the giant seviper waiting for prey. The other trainer nodded, his face taught.

The blue haired man called forth his own pokémon, a large, yellow plant that smelt like rotting meat. A long, barbed vine coiled from the back of its head around its body, ending just above the razor-sharp leaves on either side of its body.

Gary thought there would be more banter, more of them trying to psyche each other out.

Instead the Jesselina screamed, "Adam, burn them!"

The victreebel shrieked. Its vine unwrapped from its body and darted towards the heavens. The seviper's mouth began to leak brilliant, orange flames. As it opened its mouth to fire, Gary saw what the victreebel had done. It wrapped its vine around the remaining structure of the bridge overhead.

With a shriek the victreebel launched itself into the air, far above the flames. Jamie dove under the assault, the meowth on his shoulder taking the chance to leap to the ground and into the crowd. The man looked up, a smirk on his face.

His victreebel descended like a devil swinging through the forests. It swung down on its vine, leaves razor sharp. It soared towards the seviper, spinning in the air. The seviper coiled and met its bladed assault with its tail. The sound of metal clashing echoed in Gary's ears.

Snarling, the pokémon began to spit acidic venom at each other. The concrete beneath them began to smoke and smoulder, smelling foul. The victreebel broke first, leaping back to its trainer's side. Its vine danced in the air before it, like a snake coiled and waiting to strike. The seviper had curled around its own trainer,

Orbs of pure white energy began to orbit the victreebel, crackling with the sound of electricity. With a cry the victreebel wrapped its vine around one and _threw_ it at the seviper.

Unperturbed, the snake sliced the electrical orb in two. The orb exploded with the sound of thunder. If anything, it seemed to anger the snake. It wrapped its tail around the concrete chunk that Gary had used as a podium and began to _squeeze_. Gary heard the sound of metal _crunching_.

The victreebel used the time to try and attack. Its vine moved at speeds that Gary's eyes could barely follow. The orbs hammered like bolts of lightning into the seviper's side. It endured them with snarls as it continued to squeeze down on the concrete podium.

Finally the concrete _snapped_ with a sound like a building collapsing. The seviper's tail wrapped around the bent remains of steel girders that once held the concrete together. Brandishing the steel like an extension of its bladed tail, the seviper sprung like a coiled spring at the victreebel.

The sound of the metal impacting against the victreebel made Gary's stomach roll. The pokémon, shrieking in defiance, spat acid over the metal, melting it before Gary's very eyes. The seviper dropped its broken weapon and brought its bladed tail down towards the victreebel's head. The plant snatched the tail out of the air and _spun_, flinging the seviper at the crowd. They screamed as the snake came flying towards them.

With a dexterity Gary would not have thought possible, the seviper wrapped its tail around the broken remains of the structural supports. It coiled around the metal beams and slithered its way to the top of the bridge. The victreebel launched itself into the air after it, wrapping its vine around the structural beams at the top of the bridge and pulling itself upwards. They balanced on a steel beam each, sizing each other up.

The sunlight beamed down on them, making them almost seem to glow with orange light.

Gary realised, belatedly, that was _exactly_ what was happening.

The victreebel fired a beam of solar energy that felt like a solar _flare_. Gary had to shield his eyes with his arm. It met the seviper's flames in the air. The steel above them screeched and began to contort, melting before their very eyes.

Hissing, the seviper breathed a thick, black smoke into the sky, blocking out the sun. It felt like they were suddenly buried beneath thick, grey storm clouds.

The victreebel jumped forwards, _off_ the support beams and back towards the earth. People in the crowd screamed as it plummeted back towards the earth. At the last moment its vine wrapped around the steel support beams. It swung in the air, launching itself back up, behind the seviper.

Screeching, the victreebel spun and brought its bladed leaves down against the seviper's scaled back. The snake snarled and wrapped itself around the giant plant. With a way cry, it threw them both back down to earth. The victreebel gave a shriek as it realised what was happening. Its trainer remained silent, calculating.

The seviper uncoiled, throwing the plant back down to the ground. It hit the concrete hard enough to make the entire bridge shake. Gary was certain he heard someone scream as they fell over the side, followed by the splash of water. He never checked to confirm. He could do nothing but watch the titans before him fight.

Seeds bloomed into life over the bridge, blossoming into thick, thorny vines. The seviper landed on the ground and was captured by them instantly, bundling it into a thick, vined cocoon. The victreebel, battered and bruised, rocketed out of the crater it had formed and sunk its vine into the seviper's side. Before their eyes its wounds began to heal as the seviper grew visibly drained.

With a snarl it slashed out with its bladed tail, severing the victreebel's weapon in two.

The plant screamed as if it had an appendage cut off. Shouting wildly, it flung itself at the seviper in a reckless charge. The seviper, too slow to dodge, was tangled up with the pokémon.

Gary pictured what was going to happen and then, in perfect slow motion, watched it play out before his eyes. The pokémon, tumbling under the force of their own attacks, rolled backwards towards the edge of the bridge, too fast for their trainers to rescue.

Gary heard the trainers' screams just seconds before he heard the monumental _splash_ as they landed in the water.

He expected many things to happen. The crowd, moving as if one body, rushed to the bridge's edge, to see what had happened to the pokémon.

What Gary was not expecting, was for _both_ trainers to leap in after their pokémon.

"Wait!" he called out uselessly, watching them disappear under the water. His heart felt like it was in his throat. Each second that they were under the water felt like a lifetime.

Finally, he saw them break the water's surface, each holding up a poké ball victoriously. The crowd cheered, a sound that nearly deafened Gary. Laughing, he found himself applauding with everyone else. He had pictured many scenarios after enrolling in the tournament, but that was _not_ one of them.

Turning to his side, he was disappointed to find the red-haired trainer was no longer nearby. Gary was uncertain why he even felt that way. He had barely said an entire sentence to the boy, let alone even introduce himself.

Yet when he saw a flash of red hair at the end of the bridge, heading towards Cerulean's cape, Gary took off without a moment's hesitation.

The cape of Cerulean, unlike the industrial bridge that led to it, was a nexus of nature. On the west, it had Mount Moon, which Gary, like most sensible trainers, had taken a coach to avoid trekking through. Flower gardens lined the fields around the mountain, blossoming with flowers in every colour he could imagine. Flabébé floated around the brightly coloured flowers, collecting their honey as they sang sweet, enchanting songs. Butterfree and beautifly danced around the gardens, scattering pollens that would help them grow. He saw oddish waddle around the flower stems, hiding amongst the undergrowth.

To the north the sea stretched out endlessly. The bluffs were windy, with a sharp descent to the jagged rocks below. East was where the trapped water accumulated, forming small lakes and ponds around which rose gardens grew.

Gary found the trainer at the edge of the bluffs, sat on land's end, staring out into the ocean. He would have been lying if he said that staring down at the sheer drop was anything other than pants-shittingly _terrifying_.

Still, he sat on the grass next to the trainer and scooted his way to the edge, letting his legs dangle over the side.

"They were really something, weren't they?" he asked, breaking the silence.

The other trainer grunted, never looking back at him, as if he had known all along that Gary would follow. The thought made Gary glower in his direction - he was many things, but predictable was _not_ one of them. He may have had his lack of experience or current talent in battling just demonstrated to him, but that did _not_ mean he was content to let everyone else stay better than him.

"You were too," Gary added. "Pretty much owned me easily."

"I've had lots of practice battling," the boy said.

"Obviously," Gary snorted, rolling his eyes. "I've always been smart at everything. Able to plan battle scenarios, top grades, everything handed to me, and now suddenly I'm out here, it's almost like I'm the dunce and everyone else is the golden child." He lay down on the ground, his hands behind his head. "Guess Gramps was right; I've always got more to learn."

"We always have something new to learn," the boy told him. "Everyone battles differently; there isn't one true way to battle. It's taken me a long time to learn that."

"Speaking of learning," Gary said, sitting up, "I think we could do a lot of that with each other."

The way the boy turned to him and raised a single eyebrow made Gary forget how to breathe without choking on his own saliva.

"Nothing like whatever you're thinking," he said quickly, feeling the heat rising in his ears. "I meant pokémon-wise. You're good at battling, but your sneasel is obvious your crutch, with how quickly you brought it out. From what I saw, that zubat of yours might be a good threat one day. I can help you with your battling and well, I think we'd be good at challenging each other, keeping each other strong."

The boy chuckled as he turned back to gaze at the ocean. "And just how long have you been planning on sequestering me into joining you?"

"Honestly?" Gary said, tucking his hands behind his head. "Since you kicked my ass and played me during that battle. I thought we shared a moment where we were gonna team up on that old lady. Instead you took me out so you could focus on her. _Not_ the smartest thing you could have done, but hey, who am I to judge?"

"So, you want me to join you, and your play is to insult me?"

Gary laughed. "Nah, I'm being _honest_. Besides, Gary Oak always gets what he wants." He smirked. "Maybe you should just stop being a grumpy, brooding melodramatic _ass_ and accept the _amazing_ offer that you've just been presented with."

Laughing, the boy turned to him. "Alright, Gary, I suppose you leave me no choice." He stood so suddenly that for a second, Gary panicked, thinking that he was falling over the edge of the cliff.

Following his lead, Gary pushed himself to his feet, though he was careful to put more distance between himself and the certain doom of the literal drop off the earth.

"Well, you know who I am," Gary said, looking up at him. "Just who the hell are you?"

"Call me Silver."

"Silver?" Gary snorted and waved a hand at him. "What sort of bullshit name is that? Is that the latest rage with school kids these days? Have a colour as a name? I never kept up on those trends, I was always the one setting them." Grinning, he put his hands on his hips. "Alright, then, _Silver,_ if we're to have lame-ass sounding names, then I'm Blue."

"You're an asshole, I hope you know that." Despite his tone, there was a smile on his face. Gary took it as a win.

"Know that? _Please_. I'm Gary Oak. If there's something I don't know, it's not worth knowing."

Silver smirked at him. "I thought you just said you were Blue."

Gary just laughed. "I knew you were going to say that."


	16. Stagnation - I

"There's been an incident in Diglett's Tunnel. Someone released an Alolan variant dugtrio. We need your help containing the situation."

It was with a sigh that CJ placed his phone back into his pocket and stood from the table. "Moms, I've gotta go. Work's calling."

They knew what it meant. Both women gave him looks of equally mixed trepidation, uncertainty and pride.

"You've only just got here," his mother told him. "AJ hasn't even had time to train his pokémon with his big brother yet."

"And your pokémon are in the Centre," his other mother added. "Do you have any others?" She started to stand from the table. "We could-"

"_Kasaan_," CJ said. He held his hands out and moved to press her gently down by the shoulders. "Stop worrying," he said with a smile. "I'll be fine. It's just a routine check - someone released an Alolan dugtrio into the tunnels. I've just got to go in to make sure it doesn't take out any young trainers. I'm a Ranger. I'm sorry, but duty calls." He moved to hug them both, squeezing them both and pulling them towards him, with his head sandwiched in between theirs. "I won't be long. Two days, max. I've got my newbie with me, but she's strong enough to protect me. I'll be back and giving you both an excuse to drink wine by the bottle before you know it."

**-O-O-O-**

Ash was certain he could taste blood when he coughed. He collapsed on the ground, beyond the ability to care that he was laying face down in the middle of the pavement, completely in the way of people. Pikachu cooed as he crawled onto Ash's back and collapsed atop his legs, equally exhausted.

In contrast, Sun, completely full of energy, began to run laps around them whilst walking on his hands.

"I think I preferred it when I was training you," Ash grumbled. He tried to push himself back to his feet and groaned as his arms shook under his own weight. Pikachu grumbled from Ash's legs and rolled off him, only to lay on his back on the ground and stare up at the sky.

The street was slowly starting to fill with people on their way to work. People gave them a wide berth as they walked past them. Some even went as far as crossing the road to avoid them completely.

Sun hooted and flipped forwards, landing on his feet. Ash had asked him to help with light exercise, and he felt like he had worked himself to the bone in just an hour. The sun was only just rising over Pewter's horizon, bringing with it a slow heat that was steadily ridding the world of the crisp, cool morning breeze. Ash was certain that if he had tried to run whilst the sun was beating down on them, he probably would have passed out somewhere near Viridian Forest and would have been eaten by a hungry scavenger.

Sun gestured impatiently for Ash to get back to his feet. The mankey, only as tall as Ash's waist somehow seemed taller. Ash wanted to argue, to plead for forgiveness and to crawl back into his bed. Yet, he had started teaching the pokémon how to read and was impressed at how much progress his pokémon had made. Perhaps even soon he could teach him to speak - the memory of Team Rocket's meowth, back in Viridian City's pokémon centre remained in his mind.

"Alright Sun, we'll carry on back to the pokémon centre, but after that, I need a break." Ash forced himself to stand, waking a disgruntled Pikachu. "If I'm running all the way around town, you are too," Ash told him, sticking out his tongue when his pokémon complained. "Okay Sun, lead on."

It took all of two steps for Ash's fatigue to make itself known once more. The pokémon centre was only three streets away, yet it felt like a lifetime to endure. His mankey, still full of energy - or deciding to truly rub in his ability - _cartwheeled_ forwards in front of them. Ash was barely able to acknowledge his surprise at the pokémon's ability. He could only think about getting back to the pokémon centre and collapsing in the shower. The sweat was racing down from his head, soaking his face and dripping from his chin. His back had saturated his top and he was certain his legs were about to fall off.

After what felt like a miserable eternity, the pokémon centre appeared in their view. Ash felt like crying tears of joy. He threw himself into a final sprint, collapsing into the doors and finding a comfortable home on the pokémon centre's floor. Pikachu groaned as he collapsed atop him, breathing just as loudly. Ash looked up briefly, unable to even feel embarrassed at the looks people were giving him.

With a grunt, Sun picked them both up and began to carry them both back to their room. Ash knew that he should have been mortified at his pokémon carrying him up the stairs, but he was simply too exhausted to care. His arms were shaking when he pressed his keycard against the door and unlocked it.

Misty's bed was still empty. Ash had noticed that she had begun to venture out earlier, training. He had asked her once to join her, though she had refused, telling him that she was pushing herself and her team harder than him or his team would be able to handle. At the time, Ash had been annoyed, offended that she could say such a thing.

In the face of his exhaustion, he had to begrudgingly admit that maybe she was right. Ash let the door to their room slam shut behind him and considered just collapsing against it and going to sleep. Sun, apparently content with nearly killing him, jumped onto the bottom bunk of Ash's bed and found the children's picture book he was previously reading. Pikachu, apparently unable to muster the energy to jump back onto the bed, fell asleep on the floor beside the door.

"I wish I could do the same," Ash muttered. Resigning himself to his fate of being awake, he instead trudged towards the bathroom and had a quick shower.

By the time he had finished and dressed, he found Misty back in the room, humming as she packed her belongings. Pikachu had moved from the ground to her bed, though he was asleep once more, whilst Sun was still sitting on Ash's bed, reading.

"Hey Ash," she said. Her face was split by a wide smile that he was certain was because of his own suffering.

Her hair was wet and when he brushed past her, she smelt like the sea. It was strange, considering how far away the nearest sea was, but Ash knew better than to ask questions. Instead he grinned back at her and began rescuing his dirty clothes from underneath the bed.

"We're gonna meet Brock in the lobby in about ten minutes," Misty told him. She slung her rucksack over her shoulders and sat back down on her bed, somehow not dislodging Pikachu from his sleep. She ran her hands over his head, rubbing circles behind his ears. "Wow. He's totally knocked out. How much did you do this morning?"

"Sun took us for a morning jog," Ash muttered as he crawled back out from underneath the bed. He looked at the bounty of socks in his hand and paled, throwing one away in revulsion. That lime-green monstrosity was not his. "It was less of a jog and more of a method of torture."

Sun looked up from his book, grunted and looked back down, as if commenting on their physical abilities.

"And how are you alive then?"

Ash shrugged as he stuffed the last of his clothes into his backpack. "Dunno. Got back, felt just like Pikachu. Had a shower and I guess that made me more alive again." He did a final sweep of the room and confident he had packed everything, recalled Sun, put on his backpack and cradled a sleeping Pikachu in his arms. "What's Brock like anyway?"

"He's a good person," Misty said. She shut the door behind them and tucked their card keys into the pocket of her dark purple jeans. "I know people say that all the time, but with him it's really true." She tied her hair into a ponytail with one of the endless supply of hair ties she seemed to have around her wrist at all times. "We'll be travelling together, so I'll let him decide how much of his personal circumstances he wants to tell you, but basically he has seven - maybe eight, I'm honestly not sure - younger siblings, and he looks after all of them, runs the gym and generally tries to make sure Pewter functions as a city."

"Wow," Ash whispered. He ran the scenario through his mind, with him attempting even half of that and he found himself hitting an instant mental blockade. "That's…"

"Crazy, I know," Misty finished for him. She grinned as she opened the door to the pokémon centre's lobby and dropped their card keys in the return box on the reception desk. "Speaking of." She pointed Ash to a crowd of people, all no older than the two of them. Stood in the middle was someone waving their arms, trying to placate the crowd. Judging by the shouts, people were not happy to see him leave.

"I'm leaving, but my uncle, Bruno of the Elites is taking over my position!" Brock was saying as they approached. "I understand that this is coming as a shock to many of you, but I've put Pewter and my family before my own needs and wants for longer than I can remember. Honestly, I just want a break, to find myself and who I want to be. My uncle might not be me, but he's the one who taught me how to be a gym leader. I'm confident that Pewter will prosper under his guidance."

Ash watched as Misty navigated the crowd with an almost practiced ease. She slunk around the young trainers, weaving her way through them until she was at Brock's side. With a flourish, she spun to face the trainers, hooking her arm through Brock's in the same movement.

"Just think," she said, smiling wide enough to flash her teeth, "if you beat Bruno for your badges, you'll be able to tell people you beat a member of the Elites."

She drew Brock away from the crowd, almost skipping her way back to Ash. He watched it with an open mouth, dimly aware of Pikachu's weight in his arms. That was… not what he had expected. With Misty he would have imagined violence or aggression, rather than what could almost be called diplomacy.

"You owe me, Brocko, old pal," Misty said, laughing as she let go of his arm. "You and that speech of yours. How many times had you practiced that one?"

"It's the same one I gave the press about an hour ago," Brock admitted. The tips of his ears were almost burning red as he chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks. And Ash, right?" He grinned at him. "Good to see you again. Misty told me you'd surprise me in our gym battle. I'm glad to say that she was right."

"She did?" Ash looked at her, trying to remember just when she had spoken to Brock. In fact, as hard as he tried, he found himself unable to recall anything other than Misty's frequent training trips. She could have snuck out during the night, when he was sleeping. "Well, now we're travelling together, maybe we can battle again? I'm sure it'll be more fun than last time!"

"Of course. Right well, before we go, anyone want a drink?"

"Ooh," Misty grunted, perking up instantly. "I could do with a coffee right about now."

"Misty, you're _twelve_." Brock's face fell into a perfect picture of a disappointed parent. Ash had to do his best not to burst out laughing. "You shouldn't be drinking that yet."

"Says you," she threw back, flicking his arm. "Mister five-energy-drinks-a-day."

"Alright," he conceded. "That's a fair point. I won't mother you."

"You can try, but I can't promise that you'll remain sane."

Ash blinked, feeling like he was on the outside looking in. A part of him wondered if this was going to be his life from now on - watching them laugh and joke, having a rapport on a level that he would never achieve. Another part of him tried to quell the stupid thoughts, reminding him how far he and Misty had come.

"So where are we going from here?" Ash asked. "I dunno about you, Brock, but Misty and I were planning on heading to the gyms. I know Cerulean isn't exactly a good idea-" The way Misty's face fell at the mention of her city only reinforced his statement, "- so I think there's one in Saffron that we could go to instead."

The colour seemed to drain out of both Misty and Brock instantly. Their mouths opened, but instead of words, garbled noises came out, like a butchered attempt of language.

"That's not a good idea," Brock said finally, his words rushed. "I recently authorised some work for the League in Mount Moon too, so I don't think going that way is a good idea either. So I think the best bet is to head south of Pewter and take the shortcut to Vermillion. There's a gym there."

"Diglett's Tunnel?" Misty asked, her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. "It's reopened?"

"About three months ago," Brock said. Though he had a smile on his face, there was an undercurrent to his tone that made Ash slightly uncomfortable.

"Fine by me," Ash said. Brock was a gym leader, after all. Ash was confident that between the three of them they would be able to handle whatever it was that was making Brock so uncertain. Pikachu, still asleep in his arms, gave a snort to it, as if agreeing in his sleep. "Though what is it you wanna do, Brock?"

"Honestly?" He grinned. "I have no plans. And that's the first time in about five years I can say it. I'm just living for the moment."

**-O-O-O-**

Diglett's Tunnel, despite the name, was more of an underground network that was mainly used by trainers to connect the outskirts of Pewter to the outskirts of Vermillion. Once it was discovered just how far the tunnels truly stretched out, the Kantonese government had made certain to occupy the tunnel and use it as an alternative means of transport. It helped to connect the west of Kanto with the east, providing them with a means to avoid Mount Moon or the long, perilous journey by sea via the Seafoam Islands.

Despite the industrial lanterns that hung from the cave roof, and the well-worn, cemented path that led through the tunnel, Misty was nervous. The rocky ground around them, a deep shade of reddish brown, dropped in uneven stages towards a tunnel floor so far beneath the path that the industrial lights failed to touch. The concrete itself bore fractures where local pokémon had dug up beneath it, and the walls of the cave seemed to give way into new tunnels that promised certain doom if they were followed.

That still seemed like not enough to dissuade Ash from exploring. He would routinely run ahead, his now-awake Pikachu by his side, both of them leaning over the concrete walls on their path, eager to see what pokémon were below. Every so often he would exclaim that he had seen a new pokémon, his pokédex constantly in his hand, scanning the new creatures. Without him, Misty would have remained oblivious to the fact that pokémon other than diglett and dugtrio nested in the tunnels.

Not counting the zubat, because they were everywhere. If you ventured into the top of a house you could find them nestled in the dark, making a home in the forgotten corners.

Quill walked on all fours by her side, hissing at any wild pokémon that got too close. Whenever Ash and Pikachu returned to walk with them, the totodile would circle up next to them and display his teeth in a wide grin until he got some attention. Ren, meanwhile, scuttled behind her, moving so delicately he barely made a sound. Where Misty found the darkness to be disturbing, her crawdaunt embraced it.

"So what pokémon did you end up bringing with you?" she asked Brock. He looked down at her, smiling knowingly. She rolled her eyes at him and remained quiet, content to play his game. He wanted to annoy her, to make her guess. She was curious, mostly so that she could plot how she could train with him and improve her pokémon's abilities.

"I think people will be sad to learn I haven't brought an onix," Brock finally answered, chuckling. "They're the gym's pokémon, more than mine. Bruno needs something to be able to battle challengers - and ones not as strong as his own." He remained watchful to their path ahead, constantly vigilant on Ash's progress further in the tunnel. "I've brought my pokémon."

"Good," Misty said, running the possibilities through her mind. "So long as we can distract him from going to Saffron anytime soon."

"I know." A shudder seemed to pass through Brock's voice. "I have my lunatone, but they're not as good as a dark pokémon. It's worrying to think we need these to shield ourselves from her."

"Not just her," Misty said, her mind going back to Will. She forced herself to tear her thoughts away from him. When she did, she began to doubt everything. What if every decision she made played into his hands? What if training to get strong enough to beat him was exactly what he wanted? "I met Will," she shared, her tone clipped. "I don't trust him, Brock." Understatement of the century, she thought, bitterly. "But he was able to beat Ren without any effort. He's strong enough to override a dark pokémon's innate immunity."

If Brock was alarmed by that, he did a remarkable job of hiding it. For a long moment, the only sounds that kept her company were their footfalls echoing in the tunnel and Ash's distant whispers to Pikachu. "Grandpa Hala mentioned that they have a poisonous pokémon over there that can even poison other toxic pokémon."

"What?" Misty uttered, her voice practically a growl. The tone of it made both Quill and Ren look at her questioningly. "How?" she asked, signalling to her pokémon that everything was fine.

"No clue," Brock admitted. "I'd like to know more, about pokémon in general. Study them, maybe breed them, see if there's something that happens that we've overlooked. People only moved to Alola from Kanto a few hundred years ago, and already they have their divergent pokémon. Electrical geodude, dark rattata and from what my family have said, they even have cold-weather vulpix and sandshrew."

Misty's mind went to the image of a ninetales with silver fur, in charge of howling snow storms. It was a brilliant, beautiful picture that made her yearn for one.

"Anyway, when we stop to make camp, I'll go through your pokémon with you and help you with training strategies. I'll do the same with Ash. And you guys can help me. I'm so used to training rock pokémon that honestly, I could do with a refresher elsewhere."

"Sounds good to me," Misty said. "How about when we're out of these underground tunnels we have a battle? A real one, no holds-barred. Let Ash see what we can really do, and see how far we can push ourselves."

"You'd have me at a disadvantage," Brock said, "but I'd like that. It sounds fun."

Misty grinned at him, pleased. She began to play out scenarios in her mind, wondering what she could do with each of her pokémon. Quill and Willow still needed to be faster on land, Ren needed to be faster in general, Acacia and Jasmine needed to be stronger and her venipede needed something other than speed and physical attacks.

_Huh_.

She surprised herself with the realisation that he was her venipede. She had thought of him at first as a way to prove Ash wrong. Now however, she could see a way that he could play into her team. The bug was timid still, apparently not letting much of its personality show, even with her other pokémon. Maybe she needed to treat him better, give him a name, perhaps. She knew that the bug could very well be naturally timid, but her own treatment of the pokémon needed to change.

She saw Ash jogging back to them, a wide smile on his face. Realisation dawned on Misty and she closed her eyes, sighing.

This was your plan all along, wasn't it? Bait me into getting a bug so I'd get over my fear of them.

It was a brilliant, manipulative plan that somehow had no malice. Honestly, Misty would be surprised if Ash could do anything with malicious intent.

"Before he gets back," Brock said quickly, catching Misty's arm. "I wanted to talk to you. It's an awkward topic, so I'll just come out and say it. Yomoko has started puberty already, and she's about your age. I'm not going to ask if you've started, or anything like that. I'll just tell you that I'm used to buying supplies for that sorta thing, so if you ever need any, I keep some in my backpack, in the zipper compartment at the bottom. You don't need to ask, just help yourself if you ever need any.

"And if you need it, think of a code phrase and I'll keep Ash busy for an hour or so. I know he's probably not going to realise what's happening and make matters worse."

"Um," Misty whispered, stunned. She honestly was uncertain whether to dig a hole and bury herself in embarrassment, or to cry, hug him and tell him he was the most wonderful person in the history of forever.

Instead she settled for snorting and punching him on the arm. "You forgot the stash of chocolate."

"Of course," he said, laughing as he rubbed his arm. "How could I forget that?"

"Thank you, though." Misty had to look away, to hide the fact that her face was bright red and her eyes were brimming with tears. It was so stupid, such a meaningless thing in the grand scheme of everything, yet it made her feel humbled. He had really thought of everything, just to make her life easier.

"Now stop being so amazing," she told him, turning so that he could see her smile. "Because otherwise you're going to set too high a standard and I'll never be able to date anyone without comparing them to you."

"Dunno what you're talking about," Brock said. "As far as I'm concerned we never had this conversation. But if the supply in my bag ever goes down, I'll be sure to stock it back up at the next opportunity."

"Just remember the chocolate," Misty said.

**-O-O-O-**

When they finally stopped for a rest, Ash was fairly certain that if he blew his nose nothing but reddish-brown dust would come out. Pikachu sneezed, as if sharing the sentiment. Ash grinned as he sat crossed legged on the stone floor and gazed up at the industrial lights above them, trying to figure out where in the real world they were under.

"I'm starving," Misty groaned as she too sat on the ground. Pikachu cooed as he grazed against her knee, embracing the way she rubbed behind his ears in the spot Ash knew he liked. Misty's totodile scampered behind her, hissing jealously at Pikachu and nudging Misty's other knee with his snout. With a laugh, she began to scratch his chin too. Her crawdaunt instead remained behind her, almost blurring into the shadows.

"I'll make us some food," Brock said as he began to remove what appeared to be an entire kitchen from his bag. Ash watched him with an open mouth, waiting for the moment that the kitchen sink appeared. "It'll probably take about twenty minutes."

"Anything would honestly be amazing right now, Brock," Misty said. She laid down on the ground and grunted as her totodile crawled onto her stomach before Pikachu could claim her. Ash chuckled as his pokémon begrudgingly made his way back to him and sat down beside him. "I can't remember the last time I ate."

"This morning, maybe?" Ash pointed out, poking out his tongue in response to her rude one-handed gesture. "I guess if we're not doing anything for a bit, I can train with my pokémon." He grabbed Sun's poké ball and released the mankey in a flash of light. "Hey buddy," Ash said as his mankey glanced at the new surroundings suspiciously. "We've got a bit of time to spare, so I thought we could work on your training a bit. I know you didn't get to battle Brock before, so maybe if we work hard enough, now we're travelling with him you can have your own special match."

Sun looked between him and Brock, scratching his chin as if in thought. Finally, with a hoot, he leaped for Ash's bag and began to try and rummage through it.

"Hey!" Ash cried, snatching his bag back. "We're not here to read!"

Sun's protests were loud and shrill. Ash winced at his pokémon's tone and glaring, produced the mankey's poké ball.

"I said we're not here to read," he repeated, brandishing the ball. "I'll return you if you keep this up. I don't care how good you think your book is, you need to be able to keep up with everyone else!"

Sun's face darkened. His eyes seemed to turn bloodshot as he blinked rapidly, hopping from foot to foot. Ash dimly heard Misty mutter something behind him and Brock mention something about being careful.

Instead Ash took a step towards his pokémon, though he lowered the poké ball to his side. "I know you like reading, Sun, but I just wanna make sure you're as strong as you can possibly be. Don't you want to win battles?"

In response his pokémon hollered and leaped at him. Ash cried out and fell backwards. Pikachu jumped towards him, cheeks sparking. Misty gasped and shouted his name. Brock dropped pans as he rushed to help.

Sun moved in the time it took Ash to blink. One second he was in front of him, the next he had raced off and Ash's hand was surprisingly empty. His brain took only a moment to process what had happened, but it felt like an eternity.

He spun around, feeling like the world was moving in slow motion. Sun pulled his arm back, his own poké ball held in his grip. In one quick movement, he threw the poké ball into the depths of Diglett's Tunnel.

Not a second later, a deafening crack thundered through the caves as Pikachu's lightning bolt connected.

"Pikachu, _stop_!" Ash screamed, racing for Sun. Pikachu obeyed instantly. Spots danced in Ash's vision. His mankey dropped to the floor, twitching, almost smoking. Ash fell to his knees beside him and cradled him in his lap. Memories of his metapod, before he evolved came flooding back. He knew Sun was still breathing. He could hear his pokémon's laboured breathing. Even after taking the attack, Sun still seemed angry.

Pikachu moved to Ash's side, his ears drooping.

"It's not your fault, buddy," Ash whispered, placing a hand atop Pikachu's head. He looked up and saw that Misty had jumped to her feet, her pokémon flanking her. Brock had rushed to Ash's side, brandishing a cooking pot like a weapon. At Ash's curious glance, they seemed to become embarrassed and retreated several steps each.

"Is he alright?" Misty asked.

"I can look at him if you'd like," Brock added.

"He's fine," Ash said. He helped Sun back to his feet, though there was no smile on his face. His mankey's eyes were firmly on the ground. As much as Ash wanted to shout at the pokémon, he knew that it would get him nowhere. Instead, as softly as he possibly could, he asked, "What did you do that for?"

Ash was reminded distinctly of a toddler he had seen before, back in Pewter, crying in a shop when his mother had asked him why he threw a tantrum. Sun's behaviour was almost identical. With a series of gestures, his pokémon pointed at Ash's bag, then to Ash, and then finally to the cavern below where he had thrown his ball.

"I know you like reading," Ash said, reaching out to rub his pokémon's fur. He kept his other hand atop Pikachu, rubbing circles behind his pokémon's ears. "But that doesn't mean you get to only do that. Once I finish teaching you to read, I want to teach you to write too. I'm your trainer, Sun. That means I have to make sure you're the best possible version of yourself you can be. But I can't do that if you won't let me help."

Sun made a small, croaking, apologetic noise. Ash grinned and held out his hand.

"That's the spirit." He grabbed his pokémon's hand and pressed it flat against his. "We call this a high five. We do this when someone's had a good idea, or something good has happened." Smiling, he let go of Sun's hand and sat down before him. "Now, what do you suggest we do about this missing ball of yours?"

"You can reprogram any empty poké ball, using your pokédex," Brock said. Ash glanced at him, surprised to see that he had moved back to his makeshift campfire. Using a series of electrical gadgets Ash honestly had never seen before, Brock had water boiling and had begun dicing onions. "Poké balls break every so often. It'd be stupid for your pokédex not to be able to do that. What if you had a snorlax or a gyarados and its ball broke?"

"I could," Ash agreed, "but I'm not going to." He turned back to look at Sun and pushed himself to his feet. "Instead we're going to try and look for his ball."

"Ash, you can't be serious!" Misty practically cleared the space between them in one step. "You've been scanning the pokémon here in your pokédex, you know that a lot of them are stronger than you are. Especially down there!"

"I'm with Misty on this one," Brock added. "Even I'd be hesitant to try and find it down there."

"So what, Sun gets to act out and doesn't face any consequences?" Ash asked. "How's that training him?"

"He's _apologised_," Misty said. "That's more than most people would ever get from a mankey."

"It's still not good enough," Ash said. He grabbed a length of rope from his backpack and began to wind it around his elbow and hand. "Guys, I know I've had it easy with Sun so far. I know that mankey can be really aggressive and difficult to train. That's why I'm doing this." Having determined he had as much rope as he needed, he grabbed Butterfree's ball from his belt and released the pokémon. "Hey buddy!" Ash cried, waving up to the pokémon. "I want you to help me out here." He placed the end of the rope on the ground and held it in place with his foot. "I need your strongest webbing here, to hold this rope into place." He took the length of rope and handed it over to Sun. The pokémon looked at it curiously and began to thread it between his hands. "No," Ash hissed, quickly crouching down to stop him. "Just hold it for now, alright?"

Butterfree spun in the air, stopping just beneath the roof of the cave and began to spit sticky string. Ash tugged on the rope several times to check it was held strongly enough before signalling Butterfree to stop.

"Ash," Misty said, grabbing him by the elbow. "I get why you're doing this. I'm not going to argue with you - you're Sun's trainer. But please, think this through a little more. It's just a poké ball."

"She's right," Brock said. "Ash, you're trying to do a good thing. What you're overlooking is how quickly things could go wrong. If you're down there alone, there's every chance something could kill you. We can't all go down there because then if something happens to the rope we've left behind, we're trapped and need to find another way out. If any of us remains back up here, we're just splitting up the dangers we're going to face." He stopped cutting vegetables and stared him straight in the eye. "You mean well, Ash. You've got a good heart and you'll be an amazing trainer. You've got the best of intentions, but in this situation your idea isn't the best course of action."

Ash sighed dejectedly. "Alright," he said. Butterfree landed softly on his shoulder and beat his wings slowly, ruffling Ash's hair. Pikachu nodded sagely from beside the campfire, where he had somehow found a sachet of ketchup and was slowly licking it. "It's alright, Sun, I'll just take the rope-"

His mankey hooted and with a cry, threw himself over the side of the path and into the depths below.

"Sun!" Ash screamed. He dove after the pokémon. His hands grasped at nothing but air. He clamoured for the rope and began pulling it. Pikachu was by his side, attempting to help. Butterfree grabbed at the rope in his tiny paws and pulled.

Ash fell backwards when the rope ended and all he recovered was despair.

"_Sun_!" he screamed, crawling to the edge of the path. "No, no, _no_!" he buried his hands into his hair. He pictured Metapod being stung by the beedrill all over again. He saw the beedrill Pikachu had killed because he was too unobservant.

He closed his eyes and saw his pokémon being torn apart by the darkness, piece by screaming piece.

"I'm going after him!" Ash declared as he grabbed the rope.

"Ash, no!" Misty screamed. He forced himself not to look in her direction before throwing himself over the side and rappelling down.

Pikachu jumped after him, bouncing down on the loose rocks that he could find. Butterfree floated gently behind them both, keeping a watchful eye on their progress.

Ash's heart was racing. His palms were sweating. More than once he felt like he lost his grip, only to recover it at the last moment. Once Butterfree had to glue his hand to the rock face with his string shot. Ash had thanked him between nervous laughs before he carried on.

The rope ended and Ash still had yet to touch ground. "Pikachu," he whispered, afraid of his own voice's echo. "See if you can create some light."

Pikachu nodded and shot a spark of electricity to the darkness beneath them. It soared through the air for only a second before it hit something below, showering them with tiny pebbles.

Ash gritted his teeth. He was fairly certain that he had seen ground in the brief moments of light. As he forced himself to calm down, he was certain that he could sense the ground, not too far way. He could feel Sun, even in the darkness. The mankey stood nearby, watching their descent.

"It's alright," Ash said, and let go of the rope.

He dropped for one quick, infinitely long second, then hit the ground harder than he should have for such a small fall. Breathless, he doubled over and laughed.

"We're alright," he said, smiling as Pikachu climbed onto his back and took his regular place on his shoulder. He felt Butterfree touch gently on his other side. "Thanks guys." Steeling himself, he fixed a stern gaze on Sun. "Hey." He crouched down and held out a hand before sighing. "Look, I get that you were trying to help. It's just that maybe you should have thought about what you were doing first. I'd already agreed with Misty and Brock that we didn't need to do this. But I appreciate it all the same."

His eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness. He watched as Sun stared back at him, eyes slightly narrowed. When the mankey finally reached out and tapped Ash's outstretched palm, Ash grinned. "That's the spirit! Now since we're down here, why don't we just-" he cut himself off at a noise similar to scraping metal. The sound of it sent shivers down his spine. Flinching, he fell back a step without realising. Pikachu jumped in front of him, cheeks crackling with electricity again. Sun suddenly looked up once more, dropping into a fighting stance, his hands balled into fists. Butterfree took to the air with only the whisper of wind.

It happened again, a horrible crunching sound that sounded like two cars ripping into each other. The sound made Ash's teeth vibrate. He pictured a monster emerging from the shadows of the tunnel, with sharp fangs as long as his arms.

Instead, to his surprise, he found himself staring as a small, silver pokémon emerged from the darkness. The pokémon looked up at them all with wide, sparkling blue eyes. Beneath its silver armour, Ash could see its jet black skin.

Most of Ash's attention, however, was on the mangled remains of a poké ball in the pokémon's if taunting him, the pokémon crunched down on the red metal of the poké ball and began to chew.

"Hey!" Ash yelled, shattering the stalemate. "That's mine!"

The pokémon looked up at him and let its gaze drift slowly over all the pokémon before it. With a growl that seemed to echo through the tunnels, it spat out a chewed up chunk of red metal at Ash's feet.

Pikachu snarled, fur crackling with lightning. Errant thunderbolts flew from his body, striking near the metallic pokémon. It looked at Pikachu with wide, blue eyes, more intrigued than frightened.

Ash wondered just how long this pokémon had been here, or even what had drawn it to come towards them. The fact that it ate Sun's poké ball - something which he was still peeved about - only made Ash more curious. Butterfree was watching them cautiously, waiting for a command, whilst Ash could see Sun was bouncing up and down, itching for the fight.

"Hey buddy," Ash said, kneeling down to place a hand near Pikachu. "I agree, we should battle it. But this isn't your fight." At Pikachu's dejected look, Ash nodded his head to Sun, who was engaged in what appeared to be a staring competition with the strange pokémon. "But it ate Sun's ball, so really he gets to battle it."

Pikachu almost seemed to roll his eyes before standing on his hind legs and walking back to Ash's side. With a wide smile, Ash looked back at his friends and then to his mankey. "Alright, Sun! Let's show this thing not to mess with us and start it off with some fury swipes!"

Sun screeched and raced at the pokémon, kicking up clouds of dust behind him. Ash coughed, shielding his face with his arm. Pikachu raced up Ash's leg and dove beneath his jacket, hiding from the sudden dust storm.

His mankey ran in close, fists curled. As the pokémon reared back, almost seeming to glow silver, Sun jumped at it, stomping down hard on its back.

"Hey!" Ash cried as his pokémon bounced back, hopping on one foot as if pained. "Sun, that's not what I told you to do!"

His mankey shrieked and raced back in, ignoring him. The pokémon snarled back at him, snapping at his fists when they came too close. Growling, Sun brought his hands down in a swift, chopping motion.

The other pokémon buckled under the hit but remained standing. With a growl it righted itself, hissing as waves of power began to wash off it. The ground beneath them began to tremble. Ash cried out as he tried to keep his footing.

Rocks spiked out of the ground at random angles. Ash had to leap backwards as one erupted from beneath him. Sun hooted and leaped into the air, spinning and bringing down both fists, glowing with hot, white energy.

The other pokémon's head shone silver and it jumped up to meet him. Their attacks hit each other with the sound of a tree trunk falling. Zubat shrieked and fluttered away from the sound. Sun bounced back to his feet, shaking his hands as if to bring feeling back into them.

"Sun, you need to listen to me!" Ash cried. His pokémon raced back into the fray, face red in anger. He jumped at the nearest pillar of rock and smashed it with a single punch. Grabbing the shattered rocks as they fell, he hooted and threw them at the pokémon. With a growl the other pokémon seemed to crackle. Sparks of electricity throbbed over its body. Bolts of white-hot electricity slammed into Sun's projectiles, shattering them.

The electric currents continued, arcing into Sun. He shrieked as they worked their way through his nervous system, leaving his fur literally smoking. Groaning, he collapsed to the ground, growling at the pokémon, glaring as he attempted to try and get back to his feet.

"This is why I wanted to train you," Ash said. He crouched down next to his pokémon and offered him a hand. "Something like this shouldn't give you much of a problem." He glanced at the pokémon to make certain it wasn't attacking. If anything, it seemed curious about the entire break in the battle. "So now you can sit the rest of this battle out. We'll work on getting you strong enough to beat anything."

With what Ash assumed were a string of muttered curse words, his pokémon reached up and took his offered hand. Grinning, Ash picked his mankey up, placed one of his arms over his shoulders and carried him away from the battle.

"Butterfree!" Ash called. He smiled as the pokémon descended from the cavern ceiling. "Why don't you-" He groaned when he looked into the tunnel and saw nothing but darkness waiting for them. "Guess it wasn't that impressed, huh?"

Butterfree chittered as Pikachu patted Ash's leg in sympathy. Ash ignored them both to silently watch his mankey. The pokémon was staring at the ground, sulking. He reminded Ash of children who were scolded by their parents.

"Hey Sun," Ash said gently, smiling down at the pokémon, "don't worry about it. Everyone has bad days. So what if it didn't go our way today? There's always tomorrow, and then there's always the day after that too. That's why it's called training. Eventually we'll have done it enough that we'll move on from training to winning. How does that sound, huh?"

Ash took the mankey's response to be a good one. He moved to the wall, where he was certain their rope was waiting for them and instead found nothing.

His pulse thundered in his ears.

Ash swallowed, laughed nervously.

"I guess maybe it wasn't here then," he said. Frowning, he moved his hands along the wall. He found nothing. He could feel his heart rate speeding up. The pokémon that attacked them seemed not to be far away from where they descended. "Butterfree," Ash said, his voice wavering, "can you fly up a little, find the rope we came down on?"

It felt like minutes passed as Butterfree took to the air. Ash reached up to his shoulder and rubbed Pikachu's head to try and distract them both. Sun was sitting on the floor, staring off into the darkness, his eyes unfocused.

Butterfree's cry shocked Ash into almost instant action. He took off racing after the sound, fearing the worst. Visions of flocks of spearow, flanked by swarms of beedrill attacked him. He tried his best to banish the thoughts. They were difficult to be rid of.

The first thing that Ash noticed when he found Butterfree was how cold the tunnel had gotten. His breath was turning to fog the moment it escaped his mouth. He could hear Pikachu's teeth beginning to chatter. Even Sun drew closer to them both, seeking extra heat.

Butterfree descended from the dark stretches of the cave roof. Ash noticed the wounds in the rock faces around them - something seemed to have clawed straight through the dense rocks. None of them were above his waist. It meant whatever caused them was both small and powerful.

Butterfree touched down on Ash's head, humming a sad tune. Ash sighed, though reached up to run his hand across the pokémon's stomach briefly. "It's fine, Butterfree, don't worry. We'll find it, I'm sure. In fact-"

_Rumbling_.

Ash's stomach felt like it dropped out of his body. The ground beneath him lurched and shook. The cave ceiling above them started to groan. Pebbles rained down from above.

Ash tried to think. None of his pokémon knew any worthwhile protective moves. Apollo was in her ball, though her psychic powers were still too weak to try and save them from a cave-in.

The rumbling grew louder. The ground shook harder. Ash's balance was stolen from him. He fell on his back with a cry. Pikachu tumbled off his shoulder. Butterfree launched himself after the pokémon. Sun flipped to his feet and tried to help Ash back to his.

Then just as quickly as it started, everything stopped.

Ash's breath caught as the first snowflake drifted in front of him. It danced slowly in an imaginary breeze. Ash held out his hand to catch it-

The ground in front of them burst open.

Ash screamed. Sand erupted from the ground. It caught the wind and span around them, screaming as it ensnared them. Sun somersaulted forwards and stood between them, jumping from foot to foot in a fighting stance. Butterfree soared to his side, his wings already scattering pollen.

Pikachu raced up Ash's side and took his place atop Ash's head. The static coming off him made Ash's hair stand on end. The howling of the sandstorm grew louder.

The sand stung Ash's eyes. He tried his best to shield them with his hand. It barely helped. Each time he breathed in, more sand raced up his nostrils. He tried to open his mouth to breathe. He tasted nothing but dirt. Sand scratched down the back of his throat, making him cough.

Ash tried to open his eyes. He could only manage to squint. He saw a shape in the sandstorm, like three worms writhing. As the sand seemed to die down, he saw that the creature had what appeared to be long golden hair, though it shimmered in a way that made it seem wholly unnatural.

The pokémon looked like a dugtrio, though not one Ash had ever seen before. All three heads narrowed their eyes at him. Sun growled a challenge. Butterfree echoed it with his own. Even Pikachu, atop Ash's head, let loose a sound that promised pain if the pokémon attacked.

Ash dimly noticed that his arms grew colder once more. The sandstorm seemed to be dying down even faster than it had before. He felt another rumble from underground. He pictured another dugtrio emerging, trapping them. He started to run through all of his options, trying to figure out just how he could escape.

Another pokémon burst free from the ground, between Ash's pokémon and the dugtrio. It sailed into the air, spinning, blinding Ash briefly with its impossibly pure white scales.

The wind _howled_. The temperature plummeted. Snow formed and started to swirl around them.

The new pokémon landed on the ground and snarled at the dugtrio. The dugtrio responded with an offended growl. As the snow seemed to condense, swirling around the other pokémon, the dugtrio's eyes all widened before it disappeared back into its tunnel.

There was a tense, awkward tension that hung in the air for a long moment. Finally, with an unimpressed sound, the pokémon stood up and dropped its arms to its sides. The snow stopped swirling. The wind stopped screaming. Even the temperature around them seemed to begin to climb once more.

Ash opened his pokédex to find that it was an Alolan sandshrew that had come to his rescue. The cold pokémon looked up at him with curious, bright blue eyes. Ash watched the way it looked over all of his pokémon before meeting Pikachu's stare and nodding.

It grumbled something and began to walk into the tunnel. It glanced over its shoulder before gesturing for them to follow.

"Urm," Ash said, "no offence, but I want to go up, not further into the darkness."

The sandshrew rolled its eyes at him before pointing into the tunnel, then pointed upwards. Ash took it to mean that his way back up would be to go further in first.

He could hear Misty and Brock's voices in his head, warning him about following a wild pokémon into unknown territory. Again. He told himself that it had worked out fine with the pidgeotto back in Viridian forest - and he hardly had any better options to choose from.

"Okay then," Ash said. "If you know the way out, then lead the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when this story was first written, that aron was actually something Ash caught. As I ran out of steam before I got around to addressing the capture properly, now it's being rewritten I've changed a fair few things, the capture of that aron included.
> 
> I think I mentioned this previously, but I'm taking all of Brock's siblings to be Japanese, so he and their family would refer to everyone by the Japanese names. Yolanda is Yomoko's name in the dub, but other than Forrest most of them have the personality of wallpaper, so like most of the story, I'm twisting canon to suit my needs, but hopefully still keeping it somewhat close to the original.


	17. Stagnation - II

"It's already been twenty minutes. We need to go after him!"

"Misty." Brock's voice was tense, but he remained by his makeshift campfire, frying onions of all things. "We can't just go running off after him. We-"

"Oh I'm _sorry_," Misty snapped, "but should I be taking advice from the person frying onions instead of looking for our missing friend?!"

Her crawdaunt and totodile both flanked her, sensing the fight in her tone. If Brock was at all affected by the display of power, he hid it impressively well behind a single raised eyebrow.

"Misty," Brock said pointedly, "this cave is filled with rocky pokémon and those that rely on their sense of smell over their eyesight. When you cut onions, you cry because the sulphur released by onions means that your eyes produce weak amounts of sulphuric acid. Rock pokémon have a natural aversion to sulphurous compounds, because it's able to strip away their defences with ease. I'm doing this because it's keeping the wild pokémon away from us."

Misty collapsed to the ground with a sigh. She placed a hand on her crawdaunt's back as it moved closer to her, and grunted as her totodile climbed into her lap. "I'm sorry," she said finally. "I'm just worried. We're former gym leaders. We should be able to do _something_!"

"I know," Brock said quietly. "And I'm thinking of the best possible thing we can do in this situation. We don't know how far down Ash has gone. What if he found a ledge halfway down the rope and followed a path? What if he got all the way down and went north whilst we search south?"

"What if there wasn't enough rope and he fell and needs us? What if something saw him descending and thought 'brilliant, my food comes to me now!'?" Misty's hands cupped her chin. "What if he's down there, hurt, crying out, needing us and we're up here talking about how to go after him?" Her eyes felt like they were open unnaturally wide. Her pulse thundered in her ears like a roaring storm. "What if his mankey wanted to settle the score? What if he's dead Brock?" Her voice dropped to a tiny whisper. "What will we do?"

"Misty." Brock's hands were heavy on her shoulders. He was crouched in front of her, a tense smile on his face. Misty was surprised that she had failed to notice him approach, and part of her was even more surprised that both her pokémon had trusted his intentions so much that they had made no move to jolt her from her dark thoughts. "You're not going to help anyone if you give in to those kinds of thoughts. You need to keep calm."

"That's easy for you to say - you've got all the emotional capacity of a rock!"

She had already regretted the words the moment she said them, but seeing the way he flinched made her stomach sink.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"It's fine." He stood and turned away from her. "You're right that we're not doing enough. I just don't know what we should do. In any other situation I'd have a team go down to look, whilst another team remained behind to secure the position."

"So you're saying we should split up?"

He sighed. "I… I don't know, Mist. I want to jump down there after him, but I know it's not the smartest thing to do. I want to wait here for him to return with that big goofy grin of his, but I know that means I"m trusting too much in him staying alive through sheer luck. I don't want to chase after him and go the wrong way, because then who knows if we'll ever find each other again. People go missing in these tunnels all the time."

Misty felt her heart skip a beat. "Not helping," she whispered. She took a deep breath, picked up Quill and placed him on Ren's back. "I'm going down there, Brock. I can't sit around and do nothing. I need to -"

She cut herself off at the sound of voices approaching. Ren and Quill were by her side, already primed and ready to attack on her signal.

To her surprise, it was two middle aged women who approached them, illuminated by the flickering flames of their torch. The climbing clothes they were wearing seemed to be recent, judging by the lack of wear and tear Misty was accustomed to seeing in travelling trainers. Both had brunette hair tied up and tucked away under their black beanies, and were both nearly as tall as each other, though the taller of the two women was pale skinned, whilst the shorter was obviously more Kantonese. The taller of the two noticed them first, and Misty noticed the way she seemed to take in a deep breath and steel herself.

_Not trainers_, Misty deduced. She held out a hand to calm both of her pokémon. They quieted, though remained by her side. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Brock had moved back to his campfire, though she saw the poké ball primed and ready in his hand.

"Excuse me?" the taller of the two women called out to them. "Are you both trainers?"

Misty had to fight back her immediate retort of '_what of it?'._ Instead she smoothed her expression and replied, "We are. Do you need help?"

The women looked at each other and seemed to share an unspoken conversation. "Not anything we'd want to subject you to," the shorter of the two said. "We're looking for our son. He's been here for over a year now. Don't stray from the path if you can help it."

Misty sucked in a breath and spun around to look at Brock. "We _have _to go down there. I'm not letting Ash stay down there alone."

Brock nodded and began to pack away their campfire. "You're right. We've waited long enough, maybe too long. Thanks for the advice," he said to the women, "but our friend just went down after his pokémon."

The taller of the two women sighed. "I'm sorry. We're planning on descending and looking for our son - it's not much, but we can at least help each other."

Misty recalled her totodile and spared a glance at Ren. The crawdaunt would be at home in the dark, although getting down to the depths would pose their own challenges. She recalled him for the moment. "I'm Misty," she said, turning to look at the women. "That's Brock."

"Chloe," the taller of the two women said. "And Leah." She raised an eyebrow. "I've heard of you both - former gym leaders, correct?"

"That's us," Brock said before Misty could answer. "Before we go down there, I want to ask something. You say you're looking for your son… and he's been here over a year…"

"We know he's most likely dead," Leah said. She strode towards the rope Ash had used to descend, shook her head and produced a poké ball from the inside of her jacket. "He was a ranger, he came here on a call to help stop an invasive species of pokémon that had killed some trainers. Most of his team were healing from a previous job, so he only took one with him. That was the last time we saw him." She released a toxicroak from the poké ball. "This is the whole reason why Diglett's Tunnel has been closed off for a long time. Now they've reopened it, assuming that the problem has solved itself. It doesn't bring back our son."

Chloe placed a hand on Leah's arm. "He wanted to help people. Let's put the world to rights another time, Honey."

Leah took a deep breath before taking her toxicroak's arm. "You're right. You're probably both stronger than both of us put together," she said, turning to Misty and Brock, "but we'll do what we can to help you. No more parents need to lose their children to these tunnels."

**-O-O-O-**

"Wow, you really know your way around down here, huh?"

The frosty sandshrew nodded as it continued to lead Ash down a series of twisting tunnels that Ash had long since found difficult to keep track of. Sun was by his side, oddly quiet. Pikachu remained on Ash's shoulder and Butterfree fluttered behind them slowly. Ash half considered letting Apollo out so that he would have all of his team with him, though he remembered Gary's advice about always keeping one pokémon healthy and in reserve. With Sun's poké ball broken, Ash was keenly aware that if his mankey got injured it meant either Ash or another of his pokémon would have to keep Sun safe.

"So how long have you been down here?" Ash's voice echoed up and down the tunnels. He saw diglett poke their heads out from the tunnel roof, then retreat back inside quickly when they saw him.

The sandshrew made a vague gesture that could have meant anything. Regardless, Ash nodded and grunted like he understood. "You're used to having humans talk to you, huh?"

The sandshrew's ears pinned down against its skull for a brief moment. It stopped at the edge of a fork in the tunnels that to Ash looked no different to the rest of the tunnel systems they had made their way through. With a grunt it pointed to the tunnel to the right. Ash felt a slight warm breeze drifting down.

"That's the way out?" Ash asked. The sandshrew nodded. When Ash made no effort to move, the sandshrew turned to look at him. It was nearly as tall as he was, which made the flat, deadpan look it gave him hit that little harder.

"Okay then, what are you going to do?"

His pokémon were uncharastically quiet. Ash could tell that they were nervous about the dugtrio that had attacked them before. It could attack from anywhere, at any time. Ash felt Butterfree touch down gently on his other shoulder. Sun remained by his side, sulking in a way that reminded Ash of a younger, recently scolded Gary. Pikachu was still on Ash's shoulder, waiting, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

The sandshrew pointed back the way they had come. It mimed something emerging from the ground, and then mimed attacking it.

"You're going after that dugtrio, aren't you?" Ash asked. "In that case, why don't you let us help you?"

The look that the sandshrew gave him told him exactly what it thought of that.

"You know it makes sense," he told the pokémon. "It's better to have friends."

A rumbling cut off the sandshrew before it could answer. Butterfree took to the air. Pikachu leaped off of Ash's shoulder, cheeks sparking. Sun dropped into a fighting stance.

It was a small diglett that poked its head through. Strands of what appeared to be copper hair flowed from its head. It squeaked when it saw them, then quickly disappeared back beneath the earth.

Ash frowned at the hole the pokémon had left behind. "That was a baby diglett," he said. His pokémon relaxed and regrouped back to his side. "That older dugtrio was its parent, wasn't it?"

The sandshrew grunted something that Ash failed to understand. With another grunt, it shook its head and pointed again to the exit it had pointed out before. It met Ash's eyes and finally sighed. Instead it turned around and gestured for Ash to follow once again.

"Alright," Ash said, nodding. "We'll think of a way to help you, and we'll make sure it works well if the dugtrio are breeding." Bugsy's lecture was still dancing around in his mind. Ecosystems were fragile, easily distrubed things. If even they had been forced into inaction because of bugs laying their young, he wondered what would happen with other pokémon that had invaded and started reproducing.

He wished that he had waited and convinced Misty or Brock to come down with him. Either of them would know what to do. The one thing that Ash was resolute in was that despite his haste to reclaim the poké ball, Sun was not at fault. Ash was his trainer, which meant that anything his pokémon did wrong was a reflection on their training, or lack thereof.

But the reality was that neither of them were with him. Yet again, Ash had ran off without them, though this time he had at least taken his pokémon with him. Though Ash was certain helping the sandshrew was the right thing to do - the thing a true _Master_ would do - he found himself unable to quiet the small voice in the back of his head asking if it was a good idea.

**-O-O-O-**

The cavernous areas of Diglett's Tunnel were a natural maze of twisting turns and sudden pitfalls. The ground underneath them felt unstable, like it may give way at any moment to a hole dug by a passing diglett. They had found the rope Ash had used to descend with, and what appeared to be the signs of battle nearby. It was impossible to determine who had won or lost the battle, though the traces of frost and lack of Ash or his pokémon made it seem like he may not have even been caught up in the battle.

Brock felt his gut twist in a mixture of guilt and shame. He had based his decision to hold back on cold, hard logic, mixed with an approach based off what he had always told his siblings.

It was stupid, obvious really, that Ash was a completely different person. He was every bit the naive ten-year-old that the Families of Lost or Missing Trainers would use as an argument to increase the legal training age. Misty was right that they should have gone after him sooner, but Brock had thought - _hoped_, really - that Ash would come right back.

He had released Yomi to stay by his side. The lunatone was silent, as she ever was. She was floating along behind him, her red eyes glowing to provide some light, though it basked the caverns in an otherworldly red glow that made the shadows around them seem to stretch for eternity.

Leah and Chloe were taking point. Leah's toxicroak ambled slowly behind the two women, keeping a distance from the fiery torches they both carried. A mamoswine ambled before the two of them. It was a tall, wide, solid mass of muscle and fat that seemed too small to fit comfortably through the tunnel systems.

"We need to find the coldest part of these tunnels," Chloe told them. "The only pokémon CJ took with him that day was his sandshrew."

"No offence, but how do you know that it's still alive?" Misty asked. Her crawdaunt was by her side and seemed to be at home in the darkness. It was almost lost to the blackness, save for the way its yellow eyes caught the limited light. "If your son's been down here for over a year, then maybe whatever happened to him also happened to his pokémon."

"The area where we saw there had been a pokémon battle - there were signs of ice attacks having recently been used," Leah said. She kept her torch held high, away from both the toxicroak and the mamoswine. "I know that some other pokémon down here may have learnt how to use cold attacks. It's a small chance, a tiny hope… but it's also the biggest we've had in the past year."

"I get that," Misty said. "Trust me, I really do. My parents died at sea when I was younger and we still haven't found their bodies. I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I did and exist for no other reason than to find answers."

"I'm sorry about your parents," Chloe said. "We have another son, so we have no plans to lose both children to one stroke of bad luck. But at the same time, we couldn't live with ourselves if we didn't at least try."

"Once every few weeks, if not every month," Leah said. Her voice was quiet, but it echoed all around them. "It never feels like enough, no matter how much we do."

Ahead, the mamoswine grumbled at a fork in the tunnels. Brock was certain he could feel a slight breeze coming from the right, but the pokémon's whiskers twitched and it aimed towards the left.

Yomi rotated slowly in the air. She was still quiet, and Brock knew her silence was not just about the close presence of Misty's crawdaunt. There was something down in the tunnels that was unnerving her, though Brock hoped it was just that they were passing close to Saffron.

"I'm still not seeing any signs of the dugtrio," Chloe said. She sounded disappointed, and even her mamoswine seemed annoyed. "Trainers can keep Alolan or Galarian pokémon without any problems, but should they want to release them, they're meant to hand over the pokémon to a registered breeder or to a League authority." She sounded like she was reciting a passage from memory.

"Yeah, I remember having to arrange Rangers to investigate Mount Moon more times than I cared to count," Brock said. "The worst was when they'd started to breed. Then it became a hassle of trying to make sure all the pokémon were being appropriately taken in."

"Exactly, that's one of the situations we try to avoid," Chloe continued. "But it's been a year since CJ came down here. If we're lucky, the other pokémon have chased it out."

"You're not at work," Leah said, her tone chiding. The toxicroak rumbled its agreement.

"Sorry, habit." Chloe sighed. "I work for the Kanto Department of Conversation. I'm always trying to explain to people why introducing invasive species is a bad idea."

"I understand," Brock said. He reached out and gestured near the cavern walls, close enough to disturb the dirt, but far enough away not to actually touch the rock. He had seen more than enough terrainial pokémon hide in rock walls, waiting to pounce at the slightest contact.

He glanced upwards and saw an endless stretching of crystallised stones. Under Yomi's illumination they all seemed to glow a fiery red. They were inert evolution stones, having never been exposed to the raw energy required before they had fully formed. Individually they were a dark grey, almost black, forming a crystalline lattice that held the roof of the tunnels together from the passing diglett and dugtrio. Zubat were still gathered on the roof, having chipped their way into the stones to form their own nests. Piles of guano identified their frequent nesting spots, and judging by the track marks around them he could begin to guess what different pokémon fed on the passings.

Chloe and Leah had fallen silent again. Misty grabbed Brock's wrist and shot him a concerned glance. "Your lunatone has noticed it too, hasn't she?" When Misty rubbed her neck, Brock saw that all her hair was standing on end. "Ren noticed it - there's something strong down here, isn't there?"

Brock nodded. His jaw was beginning to hurt with where he was clenching it so much. "It's not the dugtrio they've mentioned - whatever this is has to be psychic in nature. I was hoping that maybe we were just feeling the influence of Sabrina's Mind Army, but now I'm not so sure."

"These tunnels stretch far, don't they?" Misty shuddered. "Did the League ever tell you just how far?"

"Classified," Brock said. "Even to me," he admitted, sighing. "Whatever it is, it's-"

The way the dirt began to swirl without a breeze was his only warning.

"Everyone, get back!"

He grabbed Misty and jumped backwards. Her crawdaunt followed behind and scuttled backwards. The two women, their lack of training instincts clear, spun around and froze rather than moving.

A dugtrio burst free from the ground with a shower of dirt and pebbles. A wave of mud and rocks surged forwards. It slammed into the toxicroak and sent it flying into the nearby cavern wall, knocking it out instantly.

The mamoswine trumpeted a sound that echoed throughout the tunnels. Before it had even finished, the dugtrio had disappeared back into the ground.

Brock was certain he heard the squeaks of diglett from the hole. Though it was difficult to see anything, under Yomi's glowing light he saw a flash of something thin and metallic, almost like hair.

Leah was by the side of her toxicroak, running a hand over its head before recalling it into its ball. Chloe had moved to her side, though her mamoswine was growling at every shadow.

"I think that dugtrio they've mentioned found a mate," Brock told Misty. "If that's the case, we just found its partner and they're not happy we've intruded on their young."

**-O-O-O-**

Ash was cold.

The sandshrew had guided them through the tunnels to an area where the walls were slick with frost. He could feel the goosebumps covering his skin, and both Pikachu and Sun were staying close to him, despite their furry bodies. Butterfree had already been withdrawn to the safe confines of his poké ball.

What appeared to be scattered pieces of a backpack had been gathered and sealed together with ice. It was almost like the sandshrew had found the pieces and tried its best to put everything back together again.

The tunnel opened up into a large, ice-covered room. Spiralled columns of ice reached from the ground to the ceiling. The room was quiet, almost unnaturally so. Ash felt like he was being watched, like there were eyes hidden in the ice, staring out, judging him.

In the centre of the room was what could only be called a shrine. It had reclaimed pieces of human technology and belongings, though there was a pile of trash next to it, like the sandshrew had sorted through and determined what it was that it wanted to keep on the shrine. It was built out of solid black ice, and had more fragments of a backpack frozen to it.

Ash saw the pokémon swipe something from the top of the shrine, cover it in snow and then freeze it to the top of its own arm. When it turned around and looked at Ash, he felt like he was being appraised by the pokémon.

The stalemate was broken by rumbling in the distance. Sun jumped away from Ash's legs and slipped on the icy floor. Hooting, he dug his claws into the ice, flipped himself over and twirled on his hands before springing back to his feet. The sandshrew blinked once, then gestured for them to follow.

Ash felt his stomach was colder than the outside as they rushed back out of the icy cave.

A flock of zubat screeched as they fluttered past. Ash cried out and shielded his face with his arms. Pikachu leaped from his shoulder to the ground, cheeks sparking.

From the crystalline ceiling, a single diglett head poked out. It was a normal Kantonese diglett, without the telltale strands of metallic hair.

A shard of ice _thudded_ into the ceiling beside it and exploded into hundreds of tiny, glistening pieces. The diglett popped its head back into the hole immediately with a shrill squeak.

The rumbling started almost instantly. The sandshrew grunted and slammed a foot down on the ground. The ground erupted around it and turned to ice. Shards of thick, crystalline ice coated the sandshrew's legs, pinning it to the ground.

The rumbling got stronger. The earth began to quake beneath them. Dust and gravel began to fall from the walls around them.

The ground in front of them burst open and with it came a screaming, swirling vortex of sand. Ash cried out and shielded his eyes with his hand. The sandstorm grew stronger in strength. Ash felt his clothes whipping against his body. He felt like his body was being pulled off the ground.

Pikachu cried out in the swirling storm. Sun hooted and Ash heard the meaty sounds of a body impacting against another one. Squinting his eyes open, he barely saw Sun falling to the ground, his arms wrapped around Pikachu.

"Sun! Pikachu!" Ash cried, throwing himself at them both. No sooner did he wrap his body over the both of them did a wall of ice burst into life. It shot out of the walls around them and _slammed_ as it met in the middle, making the world around them shake even more.

The dugtrio revealed itself. Jagged boulders had burst free of the ground to shield it from the crushing ice. The sandstorm died out, replaced instead by an unnatural hailstorm that brought a chill to Ash's core. He could see the tips of his fingers were starting to turn blue. His breath felt like it was turning solid in his own throat.

He caught movement underneath the hailstorm. There were what felt like hundreds of tiny shadows rushing around them. The squeaking sounds all blurred into one, carried by the howling winds of the hailstorm.

Chunks of ice slapped against Ash's face. He winced as he stood up and tried to hold his ground. More and more shadows felt like they were appearing in the surrounding tunnels.

He knew it was most likely something using a double team technique. The cacophony of sounds and swirling shadows made his stomach do flips and his heart race. The doubting voice in his head seemed to grow louder.

"Why didn't you make a new tunnel?" Ash cried into the hailstorm. "You could have moved away from people! You could have had a quiet life! Why did you have to do this?"

Another dugtrio burst free from the ground, though this one was a normal Kantonese dugtrio. Behind it, three smaller diglett emerged, squeaking and spinning around on the spot.

Ash growled as he grit his teeth together. "Alright fine, if you want to fight, I'll make sure to give you a battle you'll never forget! Pikachu, signal beam on the dugtrio! Sun, take on the diglett!" He turned to the pokémon and grinned. "I'm trusting you here, follow your initiative, I'll back you up when you need it."

PIkachu leaped into the air with a snarl. A twirl and a beam of rainbow light collected at the base of his tail. The swirling ice storm around them caught all the colours of the light and for a brilliant moment, the cavern lit up like a disco ball.

Then Pikachu growled and the beam hammered into the dugtrio's side with an audible _crack_. The sound of it made Ash wince. He squinted past the swirling ice to see Sun leaping into the air, his hands glowing white. He dropped onto one of the nearby diglett and swiped it in the back of the head. Another of the diglett disappeared beneath the ground whilst the other began to spin in place, throwing sand in every direction.

"Sun, behind you!" Ash cried. The dugtrio spun on the spot and fired a beam of spiralling blue, yellow and red energy. Sun's eyes widened just before he flipped backwards over the beam. It carried on beneath him and hit another one of the diglett. Before Sun had even landed, the dugtrio was already readjusting its aim.

"Pikachu, quick attack!" Ash shouted. "Sun, grab him!"

Pikachu rocketed towards the mankey in a blur, almost too fast for Ash to see. He just about saw his mankey reach out and grab Pikachu by the back. Pikachu slowed, just enough for Ash to only struggle slightly to keep up with them. "Pikachu, keep it up!" Ash cried. "Go faster! Sun, chop anything that comes too close!"

Pikachu growled and put on an extra burst of speed. Poor Sun's legs seemed like they were smouldering as he tried to match Pikachu's pace. Sun's glowing palms left a trail of white behind them that was punctuated briefly with the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the pained shriek of a diglett.

Ash glanced over his shoulder. He saw the sandshrew commanding spears of rock that burst free from the ground. The Alolan dugtrio met each of them with a blast of silver energy. Diglett poked their heads free from the cavern ceiling, firing off small blasts of mud. The sandshrew pierced each of the mud blasts with a finely aimed icicle spear. The diglett would disappear back into the ground before they hit, leaving the ice to continue on and explore harmlessly against the crystalline ceiling.

"Apollo!" Ash cried, grabbing her ball. "Use the hailstorm to your advantage - bring a silver wind into it!"

His hoothoot burst free in a shower of sparkles. She was on the attack immediately, any discomfort from the cold hidden as she beat her tiny wings towards the howling storm. Flecks of silver danced between the ice. A pressure started to grow in the air. Ash's ears felt like they were going to pop. He could see the arcs of silver in the wind, slicing through the pellets of ice, showering the diglett as they emerged from the ceiling.

A glance in front of him showed him that Sun and Pikachu had bested the diglett the Kantonese dugtrio had brought. The dugtrio vanished beneath the ground. There was a disjointed quiet that emerged in front of him. Ash felt a drop of sweat race down his spine, despite the cold storm raging behind him.

The ground beneath him rumbled.

"Oh _shi-_"

Something _slammed_ into his stomach, stealing the wind from his lungs. Ash rolled across the ground, feeling the way the rocks and tiny shards of ice scratched at his skin. He opened his eyes to the hooting, concerned sight of Sun bouncing up and down in front of him.

A crack of thunder was the prelude to the blinting lightning that filled the cavern. Ash blinked past the spots that danced in his vision, managing to smile as Sun offered him a hand up.

"I'm fine buddy," he said quietly. The dugtrio shook off any of the effects Pikachu's electric blast could have had and surged forwards. Dirt and gravel parted before it like ocean waves. "Help Pikachu!" Ash cried. He glanced over his shoulder. Apollo was soaring through the icy storm, beating her wings to direct more silvery, slicing winds. The sandshrew was beneath her, commanding rocks and icicles like a conductor at an orchestra.

He looked forwards again to see the dugtrio had turned direction again. The ground was parting before it as it surged towards him. Ash's stomach dropped. He screamed as he threw himself to the side. The dugtrio sped past him, looped back around in a long turn and snarled from where it stood, just outside the swirling ice storm.

Ash got to his feet, his heart almost thundering in his ears. The Alolan dugtrio appeared by the Kantonese one's side, and Ash felt his spine grow cold at the dark intensity in their glares. It felt like they were out for his blood, and the thought of that made his mouth go dry.

He swallowed and banished the doubting voices in his head. _This is a battle_, he told himself. _Just imagine the crowds. Imagine that those dugtrio are Gary's, and that taking them down will show him up in front of everyone._

He took a deep breath and smiled as the plan began to form. "Apollo, to me! Sandshrew, aim a blizzard this way!" Ash gave the pokémon a thumbs up. "Trust me, I've got this, give us your strongest blizzard!"

The sandshrew seemed to shrug before almost popping its neck. Its arms weaved around its head. The howling storm seemed to stop for a moment before whirling in place in time with the sandshrew's arms. The storm funneled towards the sandshrew. Ash watched as the pokémon itself became covered in snow and ice. The dugtrio had spun in place to watch it happen.

"Pikachu, signal beam, aim for the ground!" Ash cried. Pikachu leaped up into the air without a moment's hesitation. The rainbow beam of light tore into the ground, carving a path towards the two dugtrio. They spun away from the beam just as the screaming blizzard surged forwards.

Both the pokémon shrieked as the cold burned into them. Ash spread his feet and grinned as the frozen maelstrom arced towards them.

"Apollo, mirror move! You can do it - I believe in you!"

Apollo shrieked as she dove from the air to meet the ice storm head-on. Her tiny body shone with a brilliant light that reflected the intensity of the storm that came to meet them. Her tiny cries were almost obliterated by the storm. She was thrown to the ground, tiny wings not beating fast enough to keep her aloft.

Still, she continued to glow. Ash watched as the blizzard spun in place in front of her before surging back towards the dugtrio and burying them under a foot of snow.

Pikachu grunted in obvious amazement from Ash's side. Sun was quiet as he took a tentative step forward. Apollo got to her feet slowly, puffed out her feathers and with one final chirp, fell backwards, completely unconscious. Ash recalled her, smiling at her poké ball.

The sandshrew moved towards them as the hailstorm subsided. It gestured and the snow moved away from the two dugtrio, revealing that they were both unconscious and still alive. It made another gesture and the snow around them solidified into thick, impenetrable ice. It raised a hand and brought it down sharply on the Alolan dugtrio's head. When there was no reaction, the sandshrew turned and gave Ash a thumbs up.

Ash doubled over, holding onto his knees as he started to laugh. He could feel Pikachu and Sun's confusion as they both looked up at him. With a wheeze Ash forced himself to stand up. As he wiped away the tears from his eyes, he sucked in a breath at the sight of a giant mamoswine charging towards them.

It was only the flash of Misty's bright orange hair behind it that made Ash relax.

The mamoswine charged towards the sandshrew and surprisingly, dropped to its knees in front of it. The sandshrew seemed incredulous for one long moment before it finally threw itself forwards and wrapped its arms around one of the pokémon's thick legs.

It was just a moment later that Ash was blindsided by Misty hugging him with equal ferocity. "Ash!" she cried, almost sobbing as she rested her head against his shoulder. "You had me so worried." She pulled away from him and any sense of worry was forgotten as her cheeks turned bright red and she swatted him on the shoulder. "You jerk! Don't you ever do that again, you hear?"

Ash laughed, even as he held a hand to his now-throbbing shoulder. "I missed you too, Mist." Over her shoulder he saw her crawdaunt beside Brock and a lunatone with glowing red eyes. Two women had moved from his side to the mamoswine, and both were crouched down in front of the sandshrew. They seemed to be overcome with a mixture of elation and sadness, and when they turned his way Ash could see the tear streaks down both of their faces. "Um, who're they?"

"It's a long story," Misty said. She glanced over her shoulder as Brock joined them and nodded at him. "But that's not important now. What's important is that you're safe."

"But what about the dugtrio?" Ash asked. He looked over at them both, buried beneath the ice as they were. "They've had kids here. Bugsy told me back in Viridian forest that when pokémon have had babies then we can't move them. What do we do now?"

"That's not for us to decide," Brock said. "That's down to the local Ranger teams." He looked over and sighed. "If it was just the two of them, we could capture them both and hand them over to the relevant authorities." He snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Yomi, think you can leave a marker on the two of them? Something any psychic can trace easily?"

His lunatone spun on the spot slowly before its eyes shone with a dep, crimson colour. Each stepped back as both the dugtrio were illuminated in the same glow before they faded.

It seemed to be the thing to break the spell between the two women and the sandshrew. The two women stood and were holding hands as they approached them. Their eyes were brimming with tears, but now they seemed strangely at ease.

"It's like we thought," said the taller of the two women. "He never made it back out of these tunnels, but he died helping trainers escape. Titan knows where the blockade is - she says she froze the area over so that no one can ever disturb his final resting place."

"We're going to see what we can do. It'll be nice to have somewhere proper to remember our son, even if we can't move his body," said the other woman. She had a hand on her mamoswine, which she moved slowly to tap the sandshrew on the back of its head. "But before that, it seems that Titan has something she wants to say."

"Titan?" Ash asked, before looking at the pokémon. It snapped off the lump of ice that it had attached to itself what felt like a lifetime ago. It gestured for Ash to hold out his hands. He complied as the pokémon closed its eyes and the ice turned to water and then to steam, revealing a bright red poké ball beneath. It grunted and placed the poké ball into Ash's hands.

"Huh?" Ash grunted. "This is for me?" He felt the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, though had to fight to keep it hidden. "Does this mean you want to join me?"

The pokémon nodded and closed Ash's hands over the ball. It grunted something that Ash took as its reasoning behind the decision.

"Her old trainer was our son," the taller woman said. "He was a Ranger. It seems she stayed behind to make sure she caught the pokémon that caused all that trouble in the first place." She was smiling as she placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "It seems she's chosen a new trainer, now that she feels like she can move on. Given what she said, I think she's making a good choice."

"Chloe," Brock said, drawing the taller woman's attention, "do you need us to help with anything? We should wait around and help you both out of here." He threw a glance at Ash. "I don't think any of us are splitting up again anytime soon."

Ash laughed nervously at the looks he got. "Hey, everything worked out perfectly in the end. Sun's learnt his lesson, Apollo is awesomely strong and now I've got my own Titan." He grinned at the sandshrew. "Welcome to the team."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I first wrote this, in my notes I had him capturing an aron here called Titan. I got as far as him capturing the aron, gave it almost zero personality and then well, writer's block happened.
> 
> In that downtime a lot of other Ash redo fics happened, and I've seen a few patterns emerge here and there throughout them. It helped me shape the story in what I wanted it to be, and what I didn't want out of it. That break birthed me changing a few things, but the only noticeable change team-wise for Ash is this. And this time round, Titan actually has a personality we're able to see on our first meeting with her!
> 
> Sidenote: I'm aware that in the actual game canon Diglett's Tunnel is the Kalos one, and Diglett's Cave is the one in Kanto. For some reason I've always referred to it as being Tunnel and based this arc off of what I pictured in my mind.


	18. Interlude - IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gary and Silver begin to bond. Whether it becomes a rivalry or a friendship, either way there are some kinks to work out in the relationship first.

'_Though there remains no official culprit behind the attacks on several pokémon sanctuaries in the Northern areas of Kanto, authorities reassure us that they are close to arresting the persons responsible._

'_Meanwhile, authorities are still investigating a string of recent pokémon thefts that occured on the Nugget Bridge near Cerulean. Reports say victims were distracted by a battle in which both trainers fell into the river, and only later discovered their pokémon were missing. We have-'_

Gary turned off the television and fought the urge to sigh. It felt like more and more people were turning towards crime. He could remember Grandpa's stories about the world when he was a younger trainer. Gary knew in his head that eradicating all crime was a pipe dream that would never be achieved, but in his heart he wanted to do just that. When his thoughts drifted away from claiming vengeance on Team Rocket, ridding the world of the criminal elements was the thought that he went to bed dreaming of.

He rolled off the bed at the sound of the door closing and hid his face behind a yawn. Despite not actually scowling for once, the lines seemed to be permanently etched into Silver's face. He collapsed onto his bed with a sigh and stared up at the ceiling.

"The gate to Saffron is still shut," he grumbled. "That stupid alcholic guarding the gate is only letting people through if they bribe him with a bottle. When I asked how the hell _I_ was meant to get some for him, he told me to go see his _friend_ in Celadon to get some _tea_." He snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "Because I _want_ to walk into what sounds like a kidnapping ring."

Gary laughed. "Oh please. Like anyone would be able to stand up to my pokémon." He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulders, smirking down at Silver. "I suppose we could use you as a distraction on the off chance they pull a dragonite out of their ass."

That got Silver to sit bolt upright and glare at him. "Don't act like I wouldn't be carrying you through any battle." He smirked back. "I can always get you some pom-poms and you can be my cheerleader as I show them what a battle really is."

"Tough words from someone who got his nickname for always being second best."

The moment the words left Gary's mouth, he felt like he had strayed too far. His stomach dropped and he felt a shudder race down his spine.

To his surprise, Silver managed a small laugh as he pushed himself to his feet. "Big words from someone who has to hide behind the name of a geriatric professor."

Gary sucked in a breath and forced himself to bite down on the retort he could feel about to escape. "Okay, I'll give you that," he said through gritted teeth. "In that case I'll make sure that I become Champion Blue, and then you can be _my _cheerleader."

"Sure," Silver said, chuckling as he put on his own backpack, "and then you can tell me where you've found the Jirachi that's granting those wishes."

"Ass," Gary said, without any malice. He found himself still laughing as they left their room in the pokémon centre and dropped the keycard back off at reception.

Five days of hiking from Cerulean had led them to the gates to Saffron, and it was only the whims of one deadbeat that kept them from going any further. Gary wondered if there was any big metaphor or meaning behind it, or if it was just a series of annoyances designed to test him and give him the patience of a saint.

"So what now?" he asked. The morning air was cool, crisp. He saw a hoppip dancing on the breeze, angling towards the distant Mount Moon. Thinking of that brought his mood back to Team Rocket and soured his mood once again.

Silver answered with an exaggerated shrug. "What about that school that's near here? I could do with beating some spoiled brats into the ground and getting some extra spending money."

"That place?" Gary snorted. "It's full of pansies and pushovers. If you can't rely on your pokémon's strength to qualify for the League, don't even bother taking a spot that could have gone to someone _worthwhile_."

"You sound put out. Don't tell me - they rejected you for being too stupid to join them."

Gary laughed. "_Please_, I'm Gary Oak. If I don't know something, it's not worth knowing."

"What about having sex with women?"

Gary felt the heat rise to his ears. "Of course I know about _that_!"

"Really?" Silver laughed. The wind caught his long red hair and scattered it over his shoulders. "You're _ten_. Have you even grown your first pube yet?"

He was still laughing as Gary punched him on the arm and rolled his eyes. "You're an asshole, I swear."

"Didn't answer my question though," Silver said. The smirk on his face only grew as Gary felt the heat rise in his cheeks. "As fun as annoying you is, it isn't helping us get any closer to the next gym."

"And here I thought Holly was the most annoying person I knew," Gary muttered. He sighed before shaking his head and hiding his own doubts behind a smirk. "Well Silver, you're lucky you're with me. Ever wonder why Saffron hands out the _marsh_ badge? Saffron used to be a desolate marshland up until about two hundred years ago and was an extension of Fuschia's domain. Anyway, the Imperial ninjas donated the land as a 'peace offering' to the Psychic Monks of the time. It was intended as more of an insult than anything, but the monks took the land and spent two generations turning it into the big city it is today."

"Fascinating," Silver said, his tone completely deadpan. "And how does that help us?"

Gary smiled. "Ever wanted to explore the restricted areas?"

**-O-O-O-**

The sun beat down on them endlessly. The air was hot and heavy. Each breath felt like it was constricting his lungs, making it harder to breathe. There was a distinctly egg-like tang to the way the air smelt and tasted. Tiny flies were buzzing around them, crawling over their skin.

Sweat raced down Gary's temples and his back. His armpits were saturated. Even his legs were coated in sweat. The muddy ground was almost impossible to walk in. Each step sunk into the marshy, muddy ground beneath them. There was mud in Gary's boots. They _squelched_ with every step. Each time he pulled his foot up to take another step, the mud made a sucking sound.

It was easily one of the stupidest decisions Gary had made in a long time.

"What did I tell ya?" he asked, breathless. The trees were dancing in a breeze that felt like someone had pointed a hairdryer at him. He imagined that any hoppip that floated anywhere close would burst into flames before they got to wherever the wind would blow them. "Isn't this a great workout for our pokémon?"

"Sure."

Gary honestly envied Silver's ability to sum up an entire argument's worth of disdain into one simple, one worded statement. His tone was enough to make Gary grimace and sigh.

"Look at Ulric," Gary said, gesturing vaguely at his abra. The pokémon was levitating itself barely an inch above the muddy bogs. The lilac glow that surrounded it was steadily getting weaker. Soon Gary would have to recall him and be left without any of his pokémon that could truly battle to the best of their ability. As if to hammer the point home, Gary saw the snaking form of an arbok slither past in the distance and shuddered. The mud rolled away like waves parting for Moses.

He forced himself to remain calm. He had planned for coming here. He had plans for fighting tougher enemies. It was all training to get stronger to truly take on Team Rocket. The thought of having to call his grandpa in again left him with a bad taste in his mouth - one that had nothing to do with the sulphur in the air.

"I don't understand how this is going to make us stronger," Silver complained. He scowled as he pulled a leg out of the mud and it filled the air with the stench of faeces. "This isn't doing anything other than ruining my clothes."

Privately, Gary agreed. Out loud he said, "And what if you go to battle someone and they turn the battlefield into something like this? The end goal in Kanto is getting a badge from Giovanni - you _know_ he's going to be able to do something like this."

Silver fell quiet at that, a dark expression on his face that had nothing to do with the heat, humidity, or the generally unsavoury environment they found themselves in.

"Getting ourselves killed won't help us do anything," Silver said. He sighed and shook his head. "If we're wanting to take on him we'll need to do more than just train our pokémon. We need to be strong and smart. Prepared for anything." He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Relentless. Willing to do anything to win."

"Sure," Gary said after a moment's hesitation. "But I don't think that-"

_Not safe._

Gary spun at the moment the world air got thick, almost impossible to breathe. He sucked in a breath subconsciously and nearly choked on the taste alone. It felt like his tongue was bubbling. His stomach flipped and he had to fight the urge to be sick.

Through teary eyes he saw Silver was just as affected. "T-talon," Gary cried between coughs. He tried to give a command, but his throat already felt like it was constricting. It was getting harder to breathe. Each breath felt like it was _agony_ in his lungs. He started to panic. Breathe quicker. His vision grew dark.

Then blessedly fresh air swirled around him.

Gary sucked in a greedy breath. His eyes were still closed. He pushed himself from the ground, half wondering when he even started resting against the soft, sticky mud. He grimaced as he trudged forwards and found Silver doubled over, coughing into the dirt.

Talon shrieked from above. The fearow circled around them, attempted to land and clearly thought better of it. Instead he continued to arc gracefully through the sky above them.

Gary glanced over to Ulric, only to find the abra was on the floor, levitation forgotten. The air had faint wisps of lilac in it whenever the light caught it just right. Gary thanked his abra and recalled him, angry only at himself for letting the situation get so bad.

At Talon's shriek Gary saw the cause of their agony - a passing weezing, floating through the air, ignorant to the way the weeds curled up, withered and died when exposed to its noxious fumes.

Gary felt Silver's hand on his shoulder. He was watching the pokémon with an equal mixture of disdain and longing. It was both humbling and insulting that they had nearly died, and the pokémon responsible had never even noticed them nearby.

"I think maybe that's a sign we should head back to Cerulean and take Rock Tunnel through to Lavender," Gary grumbled.

"Fuck that," Silver sneered. He squeezed Gary's shoulder before shoving him, gently. From his waist Silver pulled free a poké ball and released a magnemite from within. It made a low droning sound that made Gary's ears feel like they were about to pop. "If one of the pokémon here can nearly kill us without even noticing us, we're staying. That's how we're getting stronger. Prepared to do anything to win, remember?"

"I guess," Gary said. He looked up at Talon and hoped that the nearby arboks were unable to launch up and snap him out of the air. "We'll need to camp in the trees. And hope we don't get eaten by a victreebel hiding in them."

"Don't puss out on me now," Silver said. His smile was borderline manic. There was a fire in his eyes, one that made Gary equal parts excited and terrified.

Oddly, Gary found himself already dreading the day they would have to part ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back. I had an awful case of writer's block, combined with real life work dumping on me a lot more. Nothing bad, but my day job requires a lot of brain power, so there have been many days where I've gotten home and don't want to brain.
> 
> Anyway, this is a short interlude - originally it was going to be a lot longer, with more focus on the unexplored areas (in my mind they're a lot like the Dark Continent in Hunter x Hunter, except closer to the towns it's less omg danger). But with Gary and Silver as newbie trainers, I couldn't quite do what I wanted to do with it yet. Instead I focused more on the Gary/Silver character dynamic. They're both arrogant, they're both cocky and are both overflowing with issues that neither want to deal with - it's a chance to explore a budding friendship that swings between healthy and unhealthy.


	19. Storm - I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misty & Brock show Ash what a powerful battle can look like. Meanwhile, there are shenanigans afoot at the Powerplant.

The power plant was dark, abandoned. Callum was certain that something was in the walls, watching him. Lights flickered down the once-beige corridor, their dying tones bathing the building in a grey, foreboding colour. The floor was covered in worn, peach tiles, each of which were chipped, if not broken completely.

A door _groaned _somewhere down the corridor. His stomach did somersaults as his heart leapt into his throat.

Holding his sole poké ball in his hands, he continued his solemn march through the disused power plant. The shadows seemed to grow and stretch with each flicker of the lights. He could hear the crackle of electricity in the air, smell the ozone burning away.

He nearly touched the metal rail for the staircase, common sense stopping him at the last moment. The whole place felt like it was charged with electricity. There was an ambient spark to everything. His phone had died the moment he had crossed the threshold.

A voltorb rolled past, beneath the metal staircase. He froze, breath caught in his throat. The pokémon continued onwards, oblivious to his presence.

He had no clue what the machinery around him did. It was tall, far taller than he was, reaching to the ceiling several feet above him. A thin layer of dust coated the dials. Screens similar to the petrol gauge in a car had flickering arms, telling him nothing.

Outside, he heard the thunderclaps roar. Lightning flashed, cutting out the remaining power. The shadows of tree branches crawled across the walls, like phantom fingers reaching for his throat. He told himself he was being stupid, that it was the middle of a summer's day and that Lavender was hundreds of miles away, their resident ghosts kept in check by the wards Agatha had erected.

Yet the sound of something suspiciously like children laughing chilled him to the bone.

A pikachu raced down the corridor, in the corner of his vision. Callum swore and spun on the spot, searching for where it could have come from.

The corridor behind him had vanished.

_The fuck is going on here?_

His footsteps seemed to echo before he stepped on the ground. One assignment, one simple survey and report. That was all this was supposed to be.

The top of the staircase guided him down a shadowed corridor where tiles were falling off the walls. He continued to clutch the poké ball in his hands, as if it would help him. Some small part of his brain knew that a zubat would do nothing against the denizens of this electric hell.

The doors in the corridor were all locked, barricaded shut from the inside. He saw blood stains seeping out from beneath them. He blinked and the bloodstains disappeared, as if they had never been there.

He rubbed his eyes. It did nothing to help. The corridor led him in a wide circle. He saw the entrance to the powerplant beneath him, though he was certain there was never a balcony overlooking the plant's entrance.

Thunder boomed outside. He flinched and swore. A pikachu chuckled at him from the end of the corridor, grooming its ears in a condescending, almost taunting manner.

"Fucking rats," Callum snarled, ignoring it. He followed the sounds of the crackling electricity. The roof of the powerplant had crumbled in places, letting the rainstorm descend inside from the heavens. Electric cables in the ceiling sparked wildly as the water ran over them. Raindrops hammered down against the puddles that covered the plant's floor. Arcs of blue electricity danced across the water's surface. He saw pichu clustered in a far corner, timidly drinking from a shallow part of the water.

Callum moved carefully between the electrified water.

Lightning crashed down from the heavens.

He jumped into the air as the white bolt _slammed _into the ground in front of him. By some miracle he kept his balance, remaining upright. Electabuzz began to creep out from nearby rooms, drawn by the lightning bolts. He hurried on down the dull pink corridor. The ceiling had fallen, now no more than rubble supporting the crumbling walls.

Skeletons of large pokémon stared at him from within the rooms he could see, the meat picked clean. He swallowed as he looked up, searching through the bony tree branches for some sign of the predator. There was nothing. The grey storm clouds rumbled, as if angry with his intrusion.

As he walked further, he saw that nature had begun to reclaim the rest of the powerplant. The tiled floor gave way to grassy soil that seemed to twist around his boots. The walls of the plant had crumbled away, leaving him exposed to the landscape. He could see the mountains of Rock Tunnel in the near distance, looming over him.

The storm clouds continued to rumble. His uniform, though designed to be waterproof, was soaked through. He squinted up through the rain clouds and swore. Something moved up there. It could have been a bird - but it was far too large to be anything normal.

He jumped at the whispers that echoed around the clearing. They came too fast, too quiet for him to understand the words, though he was certain he understood the meaning.

_You're going to die here._

He swallowed and spun on his heel. The poké ball he had brought with him had vanished, though he could not remember where and when he had lost it. "No job's worth this," he muttered to himself. It would be easy to run away, hide somewhere lawless like Orre. He had no real family tying him to Kanto, unlike most of the grunts he worked with.

He stopped at the sight of a pikachu standing several steps away from him, watching. He was certain it was following him. It rubbed at its ear slowly, a smirk obvious on its tiny little face.

"The hell do you want?" he asked the pokémon. He was frozen in place, unwilling to move any further. The whispers had gotten louder. He felt them come towards him like a crashing wave. He could hear the beating of wings in the clouds. Each clap of thunder was accompanied by strong downward winds and a shrill, bird-like song. He looked up at the clouds, searching for it. He found nothing.

When he looked back at the way he had come, the power plant was no longer there. He spun on the spot, heart racing.

_It has to be there! Buildings don't just up and vanish! This isn't Lavender!_

He felt the ground rumble. The grass seemed to be moving away from him, as if he were cursed, diseased. The pikachu had vanished. He raced towards where he had seen it, intent on clinging to some semblance of life. He found nothing but an old, worn children's pikachu dress up, discarded in a muddy puddle. He picked it up, expecting it to move, to talk to him. It draped over his arm lifelessly, with missing eyes replaced by sewn-on eyes.

He stood, searching for any sign of an exit. The whispers had stopped. There was no sound. He could feel the rain beating down against his skin. He could see the flashes of lightning in the sky above. He splashed his foot in the puddle repeatedly, covering his black uniform in splotches of brown.

Nothing. No sound reached his ears.

A flash of light _exploded _from behind him. He felt the heat scorch his back, burning through the uniform. His clothes, once soaked, dried almost immediately.

Terrified for a reason he was unable to understand, he turned around and found himself facing a myth.

White lances of electricity crackled over its black-tipped yellow feathers. It stood on two muscular pink legs, as long as he was tall. Grey storm clouds leaked from its extended wings. Its beak was as large as Callum's own legs. Lightning flashed behind it. The pokémon's eyes shone gold.

The pokémon threw back its head and made a sound like a thunderclap. Callum covered his ears with his hands. He felt something wet trickle from his ears as they began to ring.

The pokémon looked down at him with an expression that exuded _disappointment_. Callum took a step backwards. He felt the grass hook around his ankles, trapping him. Gasping, he looked down. Thick tendrils of darkness began to wrap their way around his body, trapping him from the legs up.

"What?" he gasped.

The discarded costume on his arm began to quiver, coming back to life. With wide eyes, he watched, horrified, as inky black smoke poured out of the costume. It swirled around him rapidly, with a tangible bloodthirst he could feel in the back of his throat.

The smoke spun around him. Faster and faster. He could see nothing but darkness. He began to feel less and less of his body, as if parts of it were falling off. In the darkness he heard a voice whispering, circling around him in a constant loop, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to hear anything else.

Everything became deafeningly silent.

Then a voice whispered in his ear, "_Revenge_."

**-O-O-O-**

The smell of the sea brought back memories of Misty's childhood. At the first inhale she could almost see and hear her parents, laughing as they brought her and her three sisters down to the seafront to let them run riot. Back then, her sisters had planned on being a triple threat water show act, combined with their experience with pokémon. Their father had been all for it, encouraging them with every breath he took. Their mother, though more reserved, always seemed to support them, though Misty could remember that her attention was always on her youngest daughter, teaching her how to fix bikes rather than bake cookies.

As she blinked the memories away, Misty rubbed her eyes dry. After _finally_ leaving Diglett's Cave - though personally, she still found that name _entirely _too misleading - even the seldom-travelled paths around it were like a blessing. She kicked rough gravel out of her way to make a softer spot to sit down on, from where she could sit and stare out at the sea. The ocean breeze seemed to wrap around her like a blanket, cooling her under the subtle heat of the sun. Ash had already seen the endless lush fields of mountain grass to the east of Diglett's Cave and rushed off to try and train his pokémon. Misty could not be certain, but he seemed to be taking their advice to heart.

West was Vermillion. Leah and Chloe had already retreated back, though had promised a warm welcome should they ever drop by to say hi. Misty could see the entirety of the town sprawling out below, built on a series of alternating peaks and dips. Vermillion was a hilly city - she could remember taxi drivers when she was younger sometimes failing a hill start and drifting backwards before rapidly breaking. Though it was still several miles away and down the slight mountain path that led to Diglett's Cave, she could still see the gym on the far west side of the city, almost lighting up the landscape. Much like her own family's gym, it used water power to generate electricity, though she knew that Surge's genius with electrical systems helped the entire city's electrical grid.

Taking a poké ball from her belt, Misty released the pokémon inside. Despite herself, she still flinched a little when she touched its red, scaled body.

"Hey," she said gently, smiling at the venipede. He looked up at her with wide, yellow eyes, almost uncertain as she picked him up and placed him delicately on her lap. "I've been treating you unfairly, and for that, I'm sorry."

Her pokémon answered her with a series of clicking sounds. She could not be certain what it meant, though she chose to take it as a positive sign.

Continuing, she picked up a handful of gravel and began to massage it gently into the bug's back. He shuddered at first, though quickly seemed to relax and almost _melt_ as she continued. The Samurai of Viridian Forest had his quirks, though Misty could not deny that he certainly knew his stuff when it came to caring for bugs. She would never have thought massaging small rocks into a pokémon would ever end well.

"I want you to be a part of my team, even if I haven't treated you that way lately. The first step is giving you a name." She bit her bottom lip as she looked from him to the sea, haunted by memories of loneliness. "When I was younger, I always felt like a bit of an outsider. Despite what I think of him, Will was right. I named my pokémon after flowers because I tried replacing my family with them." She craned her neck towards where Ash had run off to, sighing at the now familiar crack of thunder from his pikachu. Brock had mentioned that he wanted to check something out quickly and had run off to parts unknown.

Thinking of them, she found it impossible to keep a smile from her face. "I never realised that well, maybe I don't need to replace my family. I love my sisters. I loved my parents. Nothing can and will ever replace them. What I'm trying to say," she whispered, letting her hands drop to her sides, "is that was the old Misty. With everything that's happened, and everything that even _Ash_ has taught me - though never tell him I said that - I can do better. I _will_ do better.

"And that's where you come in," she said, looking back to the venipede. "I'm afraid of bug pokémon because well, it's complicated. Anyway, I'm trusting myself to train you, to broaden my horizons. Unlike the old Misty, the Misty I am now is going to rely on you, to even listen to you and seek your help. I've been thinking of a name for you, something that will do you justice. I want to become a strong trainer, to help those who need helping and make sure what I've suffered doesn't happen to anyone else. My pokémon are part of that.

"So how does that name Knight sound?"

Her pokémon twitched its antennae at her, answering in a series of almost bird-like chirps. Misty chuckled and took it as a yes, though part of her wondered if he was simply happy that she had finally stopped talking.

"Alright." She moved him to the ground and jumped to her feet, glancing back towards Diglett's Tunnel. She saw Brock walking back towards her, almost bouncing as he tossed a poké ball up and down in his hands. "That's step one down, Knight." Smiling once again, she crouched down to look at her pokémon. "It'll be tough, but we'll work together and change the world."

"Nice to see you're getting along." Brock was all smiles when he returned. "I managed to do what I needed. I can't believe whilst we were in the tunnels I forgot I'd wanted to catch a zubat."

"A zubat?" Misty echoed, perplexed. She knew that a crobat could be fearsome, but to train one from a zubat took a lot of nurturing and care, so far as she was aware. "Why did you want one of those so badly?"

"Their echolocation can be useful," Brock said as he clipped the poké ball to his belt. "Also they're naturally poisonous, so I can use that to train my pokémon, and where I've been thinking about becoming a pokémon breeder, having something like a crobat that only evolves with proper love and care shows that off better. A friend of mine, Melanie, runs a nature reserve a little outside Cerulean. She has one that she raised from an injured zubat that she uses to help her guard the reserve and she's given me a few tips about raising one. When we're nearby, we should swing by and see her. She has lots of water pokémon she cares for that you could probably show her how to care for."

"That sounds good," Misty agreed. The thought of going near Cerulean was still painful, though she knew that eventually she would have to suck it up and deal with it. As another crack of thunder echoed from the grass, Misty sighed. "I really hope he isn't getting himself into trouble."

"It's Ash," Brock said, with a knowing grin on his face. "I don't think he manages a day without it."

"You're right." A groan escaped as she began to stomp her way towards Ash, following the sounds of the thunder. Brushing the long grass away from her waist, she glanced back to see that Knight was still scuttling beside her, traversing the grass with ease. Brock, meanwhile, had a hand over his nose and seemed to be struggling.

"Pollen," he explained with a groan. "I've taken something for it, but I just need it to kick in."

Whatever else he was about to say was lost to his sneeze. Misty flinched as the grass around them rustled almost instantly after. Heart pounding, she called Knight to her side. Whatever was in the grass appeared to be circling them. The grass shook, faster and faster, as if the creature inside was creating a vortex to surround them.

Then just as suddenly, it stopped. Misty was frozen on the spot, waiting for the attack. There were too many pokémon that would try and lull them into a false sense of security. She had heard tales of people being tricked by it more than once.

"It could be a meowth," Brock said. "Most other pokémon I can think of hunt in packs around here." He moved to Misty's side, a poké ball primed in his hand. "Rattata are scavengers."

A peel of thunder made Misty jump. Deciding that whatever was after them was clearly either taunting them or had already left, she moved towards the sound. She found Ash and Pikachu quite quickly, and was honestly expecting to find him fighting off a flock of angry birds.

Instead, to her surprise, she found him in an area where the grass had been cut to only reach her ankles, and surrounded by _balloons_.

Brock nearly fell into her from behind. Misty and he shared an incredulous look as Ash directed Pikachu to hit certain coloured balloons in specific order. Misty counted at least thirty balloons surrounding them, in all different shades of the rainbow.

"I didn't know it was anyone's birthday," Brock commented. Nearly twenty silver, glittery birthday balloons were scorched and almost _melted_ in a large pile behind Ash. Misty hoped that he had a plan to clear those afterwards, because she would personally make him _eat _them if he was considering leaving them behind.

"Oh hey guys!" Ash waved when he noticed them. Pikachu copied his movements, cheering happily. "Are we heading into Vermillion now?"

"Not quite yet," Brock said. Misty saw the way he focused on the dead balloons and wondered if he was thinking the same thing as her. "Where did you even get these from?"

"Back in Pewter," Ash said, his smile impossibly wide. "I thought this would be a good idea if I didn't manage to win my first battle." Held held out an arm for Pikachu and chuckled as his pokémon jumped atop it and ran to sit on his shoulder. "Honestly, that battle made me realise that maybe my plan for gyms can work. I can use pokémon that are weak to the gym leaders to make them see that any pokémon can be strong."

"That's admirable Ash, but you do realise how much training you're going to need to do?" Brock asked. "Have you planned out all your gym battles then?"

"Nope!" Ash declared.

Misty fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Sometimes, Ash truly was the epitome of _ignorance is bliss_.

"You _can_ check that online, you realise?" Brock asked.

"Maybe, but I'll figure it out when I'm at the next gym. If I try and plan in advance what to battle in what gym, then that means I'll be hunting out pokémon to train and capture, instead of befriending them and making sure that they want to battle with me." He shrugged, much to the displeasure of Pikachu, who cried out and grabbed onto Ash's hair to steady himself. "Anyway," Ash continued, wincing at the way his pokémon pulled his hair, though his smile never faded, "If you're not coming to get me, how comes you're both here? Are we training together?"

"Actually," Brock said, removing his backpack and tossing it next to the pile of melted balloons, "Misty and I are going to have a battle."

"We are?" She felt like her brain had crashed into a solid wall. Memories came crashing back to her. "We are!" she conversation with Brock felt like actual weeks ago. She glanced down at her venipede, who was staring up at them all with unblinking eyes. The only movement he made was a seldom twitch of his antennae. "Um, the balloons though?"

"I'll clear them!" Ash volunteered. "So long as I get to watch!"

At Brock's snort, Misty rolled her eyes. "Grow up, gutter-brain," she snarled, punching him on the arm. At his cry of pain, Misty sighed. "That didn't hurt, so quit attention seeking." Checking to make sure Ash was truly moving the balloons out of the way, she wondered how they would go about explaining the field of balloons to anyone that happened to wander past.

If nothing else, it would be entertaining.

"Three on three?" she suggested. Vermillion meant dealing with Surge. Though she could not say for certain, she had a feeling that if he even agreed to entertain any of her requests, he would want a battle. "Shall we save our strongest for another time, just use this to see how well our weaker pokémon are doing?"

"That sounds good to me." Brock grabbed a ball from his belt and began to walk away from her. "Maybe not my zubat though. I don't think thirty minutes is enough time to train anything." Grinning, he spun the poké ball on a single finger. "One on one, League level battles?"

Misty nodded. Her heart was racing again. She could feel sweat gathering in her palms. How long had it been since she had taken part in a real battle, rather than just observing? Random trainers on the routes never seemed to count - none ever seemed to bring a full challenge.

Ash seemed excited, but confused. He tried sitting on the ground, then jumped back up to his feet and was currently bouncing on the spot, almost _vibrating_ with excitement.

Misty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of the sea was still drifting gently into her lungs. She let the memories flood through her before she opened her eyes, resolute.

"Well, shall we try this, Knight?" she asked her venipede. "A real battle? I know we haven't trained much yet, but let's give this a shot."

She could admit to herself that she was surprised when her pokémon scuttled forwards and stood between her and Brock, as if he already knew what a trainer battle meant. She wondered if there was a chance he had previously been owned by someone.

"Kalea!" Brock cried. From his poké ball burst forth his strange, electrical geodude, though this time there was no spoon stuck to her face. The pokémon growled as she slammed her fists together. Sparks danced over her arms.

Misty looked across the field, met Brock's eyes. He nodded.

"Toxic!" she screamed.

Knight raced forwards, poison dripping from his mouth. Misty was impressed with his speed. He seemed to move almost as fast as Ash's pikachu.

"Localised sandstorm!"

Misty swore. Brock reached beneath his top and pulled a pair of goggles over his eyes. Misty had to shield hers with an arm as Kalea slammed her fists into the ground. Knight, still racing in, was knocked off balance by the tremors. Taking his chance, he spat globules of steaming venom towards the geodude.

Dirt and sand rose up from the ground, guided by winds Misty could not feel. A howling vortex of dirt and rock surrounded the geodude. The pokémon disappeared from sight within. The toxic poison smacked harmlessly against the vortex and was scattered to the wind.

"Spark stone!"

_Shit_. Misty's brain raced. Her venipede was not well trained enough for new commands, not yet. The whipping winds of sand exploded outwards with a deafening howl. Her pokémon fell backwards. Kalea snarled and punched the ground with a single fist. As rocks emerged from the ground, she snatched them from the sky and, arms sparking with electricity, began to throw them at her pokémon.

"Dodge!" Misty cried.

Knight rolled over and _ran_. Stones flew at him, covered in dark blue lances of lightning. He weaved through the grass in wide, arcing circles. The stones slammed against the ground with a series of miniature thunder cracks.

"Double back and poison tail!"

Knight leaped out of the grass, soaring above the projectiles. Spinning in the air, Misty saw the venom leaking from her pokémon's tail. As he descended, Kalea dove her way underground. Knight's tail slammed against the ground, covering it in thick, purple ooze.

Misty swore. She had no way to fight anything underground. She had to wait for it to come back up. She never even noticed Brock give a command for it to go under.

A rumble in the ground was her only warning. She tried to cry out for Knight to dodge, but she had no idea where to dodge _from_.

Kalea erupted from behind Knight, her fists coated in flame. Misty swore at the impossibility of it all as the geodude fell atop her pokémon with two large, fiery fists. As her pokémon squealed and was sent flying backwards, Misty grit her teeth and recalled him.

"If I'd paid attention to you before, we'd have done better," she said to the poké ball. Looking over at Brock, she called out, "One to you, then."

Before he could even answer, Ash, having made himself what appeared to be a cocoon of balloons, cried out, "That was amazing! I didn't know geodude could use electricity, or that your venipede was so _fast_ Mist! We should-"

For the sake of her sanity, Misty did her level best to tune him out. As Brock recalled his geodude, Misty grabbed her next poké ball.

"Willow!" she cried, calling forth her poliwag. Her pokémon bounced happily on the spot and Misty could tell she was glad to be outside and in the real world. As she slapped her tail on the ground, Misty noticed that it was getting progressively shorter. It meant soon she would be ready to evolve. Ideas of a beautiful, powerful poliwhirl started to play in her mind.

Her attention snapped back to the battlefield when Brock called forth his pokémon. It was as tall as him, though extremely thin, like a young tree. Its body was covered in jagged, brown stones, looking almost like bark from a tree. Its hands ended in what appeared to be furry green pom-poms. It fixed her and her pokémon with a goofy, wide smile and shook both its hands and hips at them.

"Kodama," Brock said. In an instant his pokémon was serious, its smile replaced with a frown. "Sweeping uppercut!"

"Horror storm!" Misty countered.

Willow's spiral began to glow. Even from behind her, Misty could feel the effects. The grass seemed to grow in length, twist and become withered. Fog leaked from the ground. The trees contorted and reached for the heavens.

Misty pulled her hood up as the first raindrops began to fall. The trees seemed to reach up towards it, desperate for moisture.

The sudowoodo stopped its charge, staring at the ground in horror. Despite Brock's calls, it seemed afraid to put its feet anywhere. As the rain began to fall, it whimpered, cowering away.

Thunder _boomed_ above. Lightning flashed. Misty had a flash of the horrors her pokémon was inflicting and found herself feeling almost bad that she spent so much time with Willow watching horror films.

"Marching band!" Misty cried.

"Seismic elbow drop! Trust your feet, not your eyes!"

Willow's spiral seemed to grow brighter, almost glowing under the heavy rain. Misty's hair was plastered to her face, even beneath her hood. As the fog continued to creep through the battlefield, visions of her poliwag emerged from the grass. Swirling, glowing spirals surrounded the sudowoodo. It pressed its hands over its eyes and faltered, falling back a step. The poliwags began to beat their tails against their stomachs, drumming a knelling, marching tune. It seemed to follow after the sudowoodo.

Closing its eyes, the sudowoodo rushed forwards. Mud splashed beneath its feet. It raced _through_ several illusionary copies of Willow. Misty saw illusionary vines fail to trap it.

Snarling, the sudowoodo snatched Willow by her tail. In an instant the illusions were all dropped. The fog faded, The sounds of drums stopped. The rain continued.

The sudowoodo spun and _slammed_ Willow into the ground by her tail. As she lay there, Kodama, arms covered in green energy, dropped elbow first on her pokémon with enough force that Misty winced at the impact.

"Now, sweeping uppercut!" Brock cried.

His pokémon danced back to its feet and lashed out with a single, well placed kick. Willow was sent airborne. Kodama raced forwards and with a hand glowing with bright, white energy, hammered its fist into the poliwag's stomach. Crying out, Willow was launched into the sky, helpless.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

The rain would heal Willow, but not fast enough. "Willow, try cryogenic bide!"

Willow _croaked_ as she began to spin in the air, faster and faster, like a ball held in place. Ice began to form over her body. As more rain fell atop her, the ice formed faster and faster until she was coated in a thick, clear cover of ice.

She dropped to the ground with enough force to make the ground shake. Mud splattered the sudowoodo and rained down around them.

"While it's down!" Brock commanded. "Thunder break!"

Kodama's hands lit up with lightning. Snarling, it brought them down against Willow's icy barricade. Chips of ice flew away. As the rain fell, it continued to replenish the ice. Growling, the sudowoodo doubled its efforts, its arms almost shining white.

There was a deafening _crack_ as the ice shattered.

Kodama raised both its hands to the sky, lightning dancing between them. It brought them down as the thunder above _boomed_.

Willow sunk into the ground with the impact, groaning in her induced slumber.

"Finish it!" Brock called. "Batter up!"

Misty clenched her fists as the sudowoodo grabbed her pokémon. Spinning like a ballet dancer, the pokémon twirled faster and faster until it _flung_ Willow into the sky.

_There!_

A twitch of her tail. It was all Misty needed.

"I learnt this one from you, Brock," Misty shouted, smirking. "It's one of your _very old_ tricks. Willow, unleash!"

The moment Brock's face dropped in understanding was a beautiful thing.

Almost seeming to shine, Willow gathered all the kinetic energy she had been absorbing. Misty watched as it seemed to take on a blue glow as her pokémon forced all the energy into her body.

Moving as if the sky were her own, Willow dropped like a predator hunting its prey. She fell atop the sudowoodo and _slammed_ her tail into the pokémon's skull. There was a sound like a tree splitting. The sudowoodo dropped to the ground without a sound.

Willow flew backwards from the impact, though landed on her feet. Weakly, she trilled as she bounced up and down on the spot.

"Well," Brock said, recalling his pokémon. Above, the grey clouds slowly faded. The rain receded, moving from a heavy thunderstorm, to a light shower until a clear sky in a matter of moments. As the sun returned to beating down on them from above, Brock shook his head like a wet dog. "That was fun. I have to admit, I'm embarrassed to lose to my own technique. Deciding battle it is."

Misty glanced at Ash out of the corner of her eye. He almost seemed like he was about to pass out through excitement. His hands were clenched and held up to his face, where he was biting not just his bottom lip, but was apparently attempting to bite the bottom of his chin. Though he seemed tense, Misty could see the way his eyes danced with light. Even Pikachu was watching them with amazement, Misty noticed.

_Time to finish this_. Grabbing her last poké ball, she called forth her last pokémon with a flourish. "Quill, let's do this!"

Her totodile appeared in a flash of light, hunkered down, tail arched in the air. His jaw opened slowly as he hissed, eyes narrowed.

Across the field from her, Brock was grinning. "You're up! Come on, Keith!"

As the poké ball burst open, Misty was treated with the sight of a large, bulky pokémon that stood as tall as her. Covered in rock-hard plate armour, it snorted as it kicked at the ground with one of its forelegs, horn lowered already to attack.

As intimidating as it was, however, Misty could only focus on one thing.

"'_Keith'_?" she echoed, laughing.

"Don't ask," Brock said, his embarrassment evident in his voice. "When Nanako was little and before her younger brothers were born, she wanted a little brother called Keith. Then well, I caught this rhyhorn and suddenly she decided he had to be her little brother."

"That's almost adorable," Misty said. "You know, apart from the fact her little brother could probably squish her in an instant."

"Tell me about it," Brock said, laughing. In the time it took Misty to blink, his face lost the smile. "But enough chatter, Keith, drake horn!"

"Keep your distance!" It was all Misty could do for now. Her pokémon was a close range fighter but that rhyhorn was too formidable to take on without any plan.

The rhyhorn _bellowed_ a cry that seemed to echo all the way down to Misty's core. Snarling, it lowered its head and began to run. The wet, muddy ground failed to stop it. Charging in a straight line, Misty watched in horror as what appeared to be blue flames began to coat it. A sinister, dark green energy coated its horn.

As it closed in, her totodile pressed himself up onto his hind legs and _jumped_ above it, twirling in the air. Shrieking, Misty dove out of the way as the rhyhorn continued to charge. She closed her eyes and pictured herself trampled under its hooves.

Yet no impact came. She opened her eyes to see the pokémon had turned around and was chasing after her pokémon, building up speed the more it ran.

Growling, Misty slapped a muddy hand against the ground and jumped to her feet. "Dodge and then steel fury!"

"Don't give it a chance!" Brock called. "Earth's wrath!"

Quill jumped backwards as the rhyhorn stopped its latest charge, Snarling, her totodile raced forwards on all fours, claws glowing. As the rhyhorn reared, Quill _leaped_ into the air and twirled, bringing down two glowing, clawed hands. He tore into the rhyhorn's back savagely, hissing as he tore rubble from the monster's armour.

Bellowing in pain, the rhyhorn threw itself to the ground and rolled. Quill leaped from it for safety. As he did, the rhyhorn slammed its forepaws into the ground. The earth trembled. Misty lost her footing. The apocalypse seemed to come to them from below.

Spikes of rock shot into the air. The wet, muddy earth exploded. Quill jumped between the geysers of molten earth, hissing in alarm. As he danced between the attacks, the rhyhorn charged forwards, heedless of the damage. Snarling, the rhyhorn barreled into the totodile full force and with a growl, sent him flying into the nearest explosion of mud.

Screeching, Quill was sent flying from the explosions and into a pillar of rock that erupted from the ground.

Hissing, he pushed himself back up onto shaking legs. A shining, blue glow crept outwards from his chest to his body, coating him from head to toe. As he snarled the moisture on the ground obeyed, rising to his command. His eyes changed from a dark red to a bright, almost sea blue.

"Burning sphere!" Misty cried.

Her totodile _howled._ Water gathered before him in a pulsing, steam orb. The mud around him steamed and dried in moments. With a snarl, he launched the pulsing sphere at the rhyhorn. It exploded against it with the sound of crashing waves. Screeching, the rhyhorn was sent flying backwards, rolling across the grass.

"Follow it up! Jet into waterfall charge!"

The water coalesced beneath her pokémon, roaring with the fury of storming waves. As the rhyhorn struggled back to its feet, her pokémon shot forwards with the force of a bullet. Water surged around it, taking on the glow of its eyes.

"Metallic counter!" Brock cried.

Quill _slammed_ into the rhyhorn with enough force to shatter the armour in its leg. Propelled by the water, Quill launched them into the air. Snarling, he spun and using the water as an extension of his own tail, slammed it down on the same, damaged spot of the rhyhorn's body.

Bellowing in pain, the rhyhorn tumbled back down to the ground. Before it hit, it channelled enough energy to make Misty shield her eyes. When she opened them she saw the energy _explode_ out of the pokémon like a bomb. The heat dried out any water left on the ground. Several plants nearby began to smoke and smoulder. Misty fell backwards, mud drying to her clothes.

Her totodile was sent flying, screaming in pain. She chased after him, calling his name, racing past an enraptured Ash and Pikachu.

Quill landed heavily in the grass near Diglett's Tunnel, groaning. Misty slid to her knees beside him, touching his body gently. He managed to open a single eye and hissed as he breathed.

"You were amazing," she told him. "Rest now."

Pressing the poké ball to his head, he dissolved into energy once more. With a sigh, Misty stood back up and began to walk back towards Brock. Her emotions were running rampant within, a strange mixture of sadness, pride and remorse. It was key to getting stronger, though that did not mean that Misty enjoyed watching her pokémon suffer.

"That was amazing!"

She jumped as Ash raced up to her and bounced excitedly. "I didn't even know pokémon could do things like that! You have to teach me, Mist! Brock's rhyhorn was _totalled_ so you won that. I can see why you're both gym leaders! That was _incredible!_"

"Thanks, Ash." She smiled back at him, already feeling her previous sadness begin to wash away. He was so infectiously positive that she found herself unable to focus on what she did wrong. Honestly, Willow's horror storm was something out of a horror film Misty could only find in her nightmares, and she had only seen it secondhand.

When she arrived back at their battleground, she was amazed to see that most of the damage was already on the road to recovery. The burnt plants had been stripped away and turned into mulch for others to grow. The area seemed like it had recently been ploughed and Misty was certain that a few four-leaved clovers were beginning to grow.

Brock grinned at her as he slid his backpack onto his shoulders. "Keith had just enough energy left to tilt the soil and help repair the damage."

"Impressive," Misty commented. "Though I still can't get used to that name."

"Can it," Brock said, laughing as he embraced her in a one-armed hug. "That battle was fun though. I haven't had to think on my feet like that for a while."

"Same," Misty confessed. "Though if your rhyhorn managed this after that battle, I think that match goes to you. Quill had only enough energy to grin at me before I recalled him."

"Yeah, I think I went a little overboard there, didn't I?"

Misty grinned and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We both did. But that's what training battles are for." Catching sight of Ash boxing the air with Pikachu, she walked over to him and grabbed him by his ear, dragging him over to his pile of discarded balloons, despite his cries of protest.

"Don't think we forgot about this, mister! You made this mess, so we're going to make sure that you clean it all up!"

"But Mist, I was just about to!" he protested. "Honest! I just wanted to try a few moves with Pikachu first!"

"Well, you can do that _after_." Grunting, she let go of him by his army of balloons and smiled as she took one. "But I'll help."

"Geez, thanks Mist," he muttered. When she shoved him, poking her tongue at him, he laughed and squeezed the balloon she was holding onto, popping it. "But seriously, you were awesome. Are you sure you're not strong enough to be an Elite already?"

"Certain," she said. Glancing behind, she saw that Brock was at work replanting some of the larger plants they had uprooted. "But hey, we'll get there, eventually."

"Of course we will," Ash said, as if it were already a guarantee. "And just think, battles like this will be _simple_ compared to how strong we're gonna become."

"Is it bad if that scares me a little?"

"Maybe," Ash said, shrugging. He grinned as Pikachu scampered up towards them and began dragging balloons away by their string. "I think anyone that isn't a little bit scared by power usually ends up being one of those people that doesn't realise how bad they're making everything around them."

"You know, Ash, sometimes you're surprisingly smart." Groaning, she pulled a piece of melted balloon from the ground and made a face when it ripped and scattered glitter all over her mud-stained clothes. "_Sometimes._"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we're nearly caught up to the point where I'd written myself into a corner. At least this time around there's been other things happen and new chapters in the middle and most importantly, I haven't written myself into a hole and suffered writer's block because of it. (Yet).
> 
> So most of this chapter came about from me wanting to play around with battles, as well as showcase the difference in battling abilities between the main group. Also, where Ash is so spur of the moment, it's a welcome change to also write battles based upon strategies. In time, both sides will be able to learn from each other. I also wanted to showcase the thing I had Misty mention early on, where higher challenge battles don't have League terms used for moves. In terms of the actual moves used when I have battles like this, I'll have them listed at the end. For the likes of Ash we'll see him thinking up the name so they're more familiar, it's just that this is the first time that either Brock or Misty have gotten to let loose and battle to a higher level... (and it's only like what, nearly twenty chapters in!)
> 
> \+ Sweeping Uppercut (Sudowoodo). Low Kick + Mega Punch.
> 
> \+ Thunder Break (Sudowoodo). Thunder Punch + Brick Break.
> 
> \+ Batter Up (Sudowoodo). Seismic Toss + Focus Punch.
> 
> \+ Seismic Elbow Drop (Sudowoodo). Seismic Toss + Hammer Arm.
> 
> \+ Horror Storm (Poliwag). Hypnosis + Mist + Rain Dance.
> 
> \+ Marching Band (Poliwag). Belly Drum + Round + Double Team.
> 
> \+ Cryogenic Bide (Poliwag). Ice Ball + Rest + Bide.
> 
> \+ Drake Horn (Rhyhorn). Dragon Rush + Megahorn + Rock Polish.
> 
> \+ Earth's Wrath (Rhyhorn). Earth Power + Stone Edge.
> 
> \+ Metallic Counter (Rhyhorn). Metal Burst + Counter.
> 
> \+ Steel Fury (Totodile). Fury Cutter + Metal Claw.
> 
> \+ Burning Sphere (Totodile). Water Pulse + Scald.
> 
> \+ Waterfall Charge (Totodile). Waterfall + Aqua Jet.


End file.
